Banks in Lagos, Abuja stop N100 ATM charge

Banks in Lagos and Abuja have cancelled the N100 charge on customers’ use of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) withdrawals from other banks as directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Our reporter visited some ATM locations to ascertain if the central bank’s directive is being obeyed and discovered that banks had since Monday complied with the new policy.

This followed the Bankers Committee’s directive that banks should stop charging N100 with effect from December 17.

Some customers in separate interviews with NAN said that they were happy with the development and expressed the hope that more positive developments would be made in the sector in 2013.

Mr Kunle Adewale, an Information Technology expert and a customer with GTB, said that the development showed that customers would no longer suffer unwarranted banks’ charges.

He said that the development had showed that banks customers would get the best service delivery without the regulators forcing the banks to charge customers unnecessarily.

Mr Afolaju Waheed, a customer with Access Bank, said that stoppage of the charges would not reduce the level of profit made by banks.

“But it will rather reduce the long queues in the banking halls,” Waheed said. According to him, the cancellation of N100 charge will help the banks to enjoy more patronage of their ATM facilities.

“This in return will boost the clamour for financial inclusion among the people in the informal sector,’’ he said.

Another customer with First Bank Plc, Marina, Miss Esther Oluwayinka, said that she was surprised when the ATM machine did not alert her that she would be charged N100 after she used that of another bank.

Oluwayinka said that initially she felt that it was a teller machine error when the ATM did not deduct the N100 charge from her account for using another bank.

“When the ATM did not ask me if I was aware that my account will be deducted by N100, I was not bothered, but I thought it was a machine error.

“Later, after my transaction, I discovered that I was not also charged for the withdrawal made.

“It was at this juncture that I told a friend my experience at ATM dispenser and she also confirmed that she had similar experience. The cancellation is a welcome development,” she said.

Another customer of UBA at Iganmu branch, who pleaded anonymity, said that he believed the banks would still come up with another way of taking their charges from the customers.

“In the banking sector in Nigeria nothing goes free. At the end of the month the banks will surprise the customers with another funny charge,” the customer said.

NAN recalls that the banks had on Dec. 9 agreed to start effective implementation of zero ATM charges throughout the country.

The agreement was sealed at the fourth annual Bankers’ Committee’s retreat held in Calabar.

NAN reports that Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, CBN governor and Chairman, Bankers’ Committee, had said that CBN would monitor the effective implementation of the cancellation. (NAN)