A visit to Automated
Teller Machine (ATM) Galleries and shops in Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital has revealed mixed feelings as expressed by users of the cash dispensing machine.
Since the cashless policy was introduce in Nigeria, monetary transactions have taken a different turn, for some it is a welcome development as the incidences of snatching cash have reduced, since people do not need to carry large sums of money from point to point.
A cross section of residents in Port Harcourt spoke, giving their opinions about the policy and the outcomes.
A banker in charge of ATM, Mr Ola Opayemi, in his response stated that, since the cashless policy became full effective, the crowds in the banking halls have reduced.
“Bankers now work peacefully without fear of harassements from customers who feel that the teller machines were not doing enough to pay them or that they were receiving cheques from the “back door” to favour customers who had only just entered the bank”, he said.
Mr Juliet Ejibendu, another respondent, lamented that she had gone to a supermarket to do some shopping with the intention of paying with her ATM card, but was disappointed when the operation was declined several times and she needed the items, “this ATM cards disappoint you when you need them the most, something urgent should be done about the network”.
For Mr Akpan Peters “the ATM policy is a step in the right direction.  I can assure you that I speak the mind of many of friends and associations. I don’t go to the bank regularly only when I have issues with my account or the transaction is beyond what the ATM can handle.
“We used to her stories of tip offs when someone is withdrawing a huge amount and such a person is followed and the money snatched from him sometimes he is even killed, but that is no longer rampant”,  he added.
Meanwhile, an Organisation, Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) Plc, has in a survey affirmed that a high percentage of Nigerians use the ATMs.
Stating the outcome of the survey, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, of CWG, James Agada, said the average ATM in Nigeria dispenses three times as much notes as other ATMs in other African countries and even the United Kingdom.
He admitted that ATMs come down with some issues, noting however that they are overstated, “the issues we have with the ATM is that we don’t have enough and the few around are overhauled.
On the security of the system, “Nigeria is more secured compared to places like U.S.A or UK.  In Nigeria we’ve many measures being deployed to curb the problem of ATM related fraud, we’ve PIN shield, security cameras, mirrors, encryption technology, anti-pishing devices fixed on the ATM and we’re not resting on our”, Agada said .