Xmas Holiday: Long queues at ATM centres worsen
By Idris Bakare
Despite the biting economic recession in the country, long queues of customers have resurfaced at the Automated Teller Machine ( ATM) galleries of almost all the commercial banks on Christmas, awaiting New year festival period.
Festive periods are usually associated with high demand for cash balances especially for transaction purposes. As a result, many customers throng the ATMs to withdraw money.
Visits by our correspondents to several banks in most parts of Lagos, Ogun, Abuja and Osun on Sunday showed that long queues have become a common sight at their ATM points.
As customers prepare for New Year festivities, findings showed they were busy withdrawing cash from the ATMs to buy food items, dresses, decorations and other things needed to make the yuletide an exciting experience.
The economic recession ravaging the country may not mar the Christmas and New Year experiences of most Nigerians if long queues seen at the ATM points are anything to go by.
“I need to prepare for the Christmas; I have come to withdraw some cash for my wife to get some dresses for the children and us,” a businessman, who identified himself as Kunle Benson told our correspondent at a ATM gallery of a Tier 2 Bank in Ikeja, Lagos.
Similar stories were told by bank customers who spoke to our correspondent at the ATM centres in Ijaye, Egbeda, Ikotun-Egbe, Ojodu and Agege in Lagos.
Customers using the ATM in banks in Ogun have decried poor services rendered by the machines, causing long queues at various branches of commercial banks.
While attributing the poor services of the ATMs to network challenges, the respondents also decried the attitudes of the managements or the operators of the machines to customers.
According to Mr Ibrahim Aregbesola, “We are not just hearing this for the first time, in fact, this poor services of the ATMs have become a yearly ritual at this time of the year.
“Last December it was like this and they did promise to work on it, just like they are saying now, but what do we have this year again?
“They need to improve and work on their network, especially against the backdrop of expected high traffic occasioned by the Christmas celebration,” he said.
Mr Lawal Musa, who spoke to our correspondent at one of the commercial banks at Ijoko Road in Ogun state, said that he had been at the ATM since 11.00a.m, but said that network has been on and off, keeping customers waiting and frustrated.
“I am here to withdraw money for the family needs, but I cannot, it is frustrating indeed.
“It is sad that we are still experiencing this kind of situation. It is important that the banks deploy robust technologies,” Musa said.
Mrs Adesina Toyin, a trader at the Osogbo market, who was at the Sterling bank ATM to make withdrawal, said that she had been on the queue for more than 30 minutes to withdraw cash for the Xmas celebration.
“Nigerian banks are frustrating, as a result of network failures, shortage of cash experienced by the customers and inability to get your ATM card back immediately when seized by the machine.
“The government is preaching cashless economy, but has not put in place the right infratsructure to do it.
“It is sad to experience difficulty in an apparent attempt to withdraw money these holidays,” she said.
However, notable among the provisions of the CBN’s Standards on ATM operations in Nigeria are that banks should not allow the ATM downtime (due to technical fault) to exceed 72 hours consecutively and that the ATM vault replenishment should be carried out as often as possible to avoid cash-out.
Ensuring compliance with these provisions through the use of appropriate sanctions either in the form of monetary penalties or suspension of the acquiring/processing service or both will go a long way in minimising ‘unable to dispense cash’ notices as well as reducing snaking queues at the ATMs during festive periods.
