E-Financial
Demystifying the ATM Customer Experience in Nigeria
The ATM in Nigeria has gone from a mysterious machine of very high distrust to a basic essential. Understandably, being at the perceived epicentre of online fraud and Internet scams has made Nigerians exceedingly weary of this machine which spits cash at the punch of just four digits.
My personal take though, is that there exist more advanced hacking centres outside of Nigeria.
Common knowledge seems to suggest that parts of Eastern Europe and Asia top Nigeria by a country mile.
My wife and many others like her, who have vowed never to test the efficacy of the banks’ assurances on the safety and security of their ATM systems against the increasing ingenuity of fraudsters have now become unwilling converts due to the higher risk of being unceremoniously shut out of modern day transactions.
Regulatory pressures a-la the Cashless Nigeria initiative by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have also played their part in this conspiracy against the conservatives.
Hefty penalties have now being instituted on cash transactions beyond a certain threshold. Thankfully, she has broken ranks and acquired an ATM card just only last year.
The CBN has tried to allay the fears of Nigerians by enforcing on the banks additional security measures such as the installation of anti-skimming devices, and two camera systems on all ATMs.
The rational being that a fraudster who covers both cameras with his hands to avoid detection will have no spare to conduct his nefarious activities.
The average customer experience of the ATM user in Nigeria is still a tale of woes, mostly self-inflicted, and inadvertently by the same banks in whose major interest it should be to drive adoption to cut the relatively high cost of serving customers within the branch.
Two very glaring examples; it is reported that on the eve of Christmas last year, customers looking for ATMs to withdraw cash for their festivities in the Gbagada area found to their dismay after visiting many ATMs and being greeted with the now familiar ‘temporary out of service’ or ‘Unable to dispense Cash’ messages, that the only ATMs that seemed to be working on the whole axis were the UBA ATMs at the Charlie Boy Bus stop.
Of course the queue had built up to the extent that faint hearted customers rather opted to go without cash than risk the possible consequences of a stampede. Similarly, on December 14, 2013 there were reports that virtually no ATM was working in the Badagry area.
These experiences are exacerbated majorly by the following factors; firstly, stagnation in the ATM population in spite of significant adoption rate by Nigerians.
The ATM population in Nigeria has been stuck at the 11,000 mark for the past six years, resulting in an average of 11.39 ATMs per 100k adult population (adult population in Nigeria being about 56% or 95.2m according to a World Bank report on population).
This is not unconnected to the Central Bank’s misadventure with the Independent ATM Deployers (IAD) experiment of 2008 that barred banks from deploying ATMs outside their branches. This resulted in the abrupt halt in the momentum of ATM deployment by Banks.
This was largely due to the hasty conduct of the CBN in trying to swallow an elephant at one go. Noble as the intention was, a pilot scheme would have uncovered the soft underbelly of the strategy, the major shortcoming being the fact that the cash in the offsite ATMs would have been too expensive for the IADs to carry, and therefore compel them to charge customers very exorbitant rates or render them totally unprofitable at the flat rate of N100 per withdrawal, then allowed by the CBN.
Six years later we have less than the 11,800 achieved at the highpoint, because many banks had to abandon the long term rents secured for their offsite ATMs and wheeled the ATMs into warehouses and parking lots because the IADs could not afford the book value to take on the sites and ATMs.
The operational lives of those ATMs, about a third of the total volume were cut short, as they were subsequently unusable two years later when the CBN rescinded her decision.
Comparatively, Indonesia with an adult population of about 90m, more than doubled their ATM installed base from 16.7k in 2011 to 36.5k in 2012, resulting in 37 ATMs per 100k adult population, about three time the ATM per adult capita in Nigeria.
South Africa has 60 ATMs per 100k adult population, while the UK has 124 ATMs per 100k adult population. Nigeria clearly has a lot to do as the largest economy in Africa.
Secondly, the quality of notes in the ATM are a far cry from standard. In the early days, the ATM was where to go if you wanted crisp notes.
Today, the notes in the ATM are sometimes worse that the change you receive at the flea market. This is underscored by the fact that the security features and the general quality of the naira could do with some enhancements.
Dirty notes generally cause paper dirt to be lodged in sensitive parts of the ATM when it is dispensing cash, therefore resulting in more frequent system faults or currency jams.
A telling revelation when we compare the work rate of the ATM in Nigeria to say the UK is that the Nigerian ATM has to dispense on the average five notes to one in the UK, if it is dispensing N1,000 notes and the UK one is dispensing £20 notes (£20 is approximately N5,000).
This coupled with the low ATM density and challenged note quality contributes a lot to the frequent breakdowns and ‘unable to dispense cash’ notices.
Thirdly and very importantly, most ATMs in Nigeria are not under any guaranteed service level support program.
This is very shocking, and a serious anomaly by any stretch of the imagination. Banks inadvertently encourage this malaise.
There is a notion that appraisal and compensation for ATM support heads in the E-banking departments seem to be heavily skewed on how much they can save in the ATM support costs.
So they devise all means necessary to achieve this, even at the detriment of customer experience and the banks’ brand erosion.
There is a blatant refusal to sign any Service Level Agreements (SLA) support for the ATMs in the first year of purchase under the illusion that warranty on the systems equates to SLA support.
This results in fallacious claims of reduction in support costs.
This alluded cost efficiency cannot be further from the truth. Warranty and SLA support are quite different from each other as any owner of a car under warranty well knows.
While SLA defines the time within which an ATM should be fixed or replaced in the event of a fault (usually two hours within urban areas and six hours in remote areas), warranty relies on a best effort basis for the replacement of factory defective parts.
Parts that are rendered unusable due to wear and tear, or as a result of exogenous effects such as power surges cannot be claimed under warranty (as sometimes the bank officials are wont to ferociously argue). For simplicity, warranty on ATMs is very similar to that on automobiles.
If you drive your new car which carries a three year or 100,000km warranty to the dealer for a part replacement. Firstly they check that it is not normal wear and tear, and that it is not due to abnormal circumstances such as the wrong type of fuel or an accident.
Then they take in the car and order the part. They call you when the part arrives, which takes an average of three months, and then slap you with a labour bill.
This is the type of service that the Bank is hoodwinked to render to their hapless customers. It is worthy to note that warranty does not cover periodic maintenance of the machines. Imagine driving your warranty car for three years straight or 100,000km without any service or Oil change!
Not opting even for the bare bones labour-only quarterly preventive maintenance service does drastically shorten the lifespan of the ATMs
It is therefore not surprising that some relatively new ATMs needlessly break down and cause customers to spend eternity looking for a working one, or in an endless queue.
The average annual support spend on an ATM in Nigeria is $2,500, about half of what obtains in Indonesia and South Africa, both spending about $4,500 per ATM per annum.
By investing the right amount to keep their systems properly maintained, they prolong the lives of their ATMs and ensure better customer experiences, which we readily testify to when we visit those countries.
Thirdly, we now know that most ATMs work with the windows operating system. Many are currently on the windows XP platform which has recently been announced by Microsoft as de-supported, and a new operating system, windows 7, announced to replace it.
This means that any ATM that is not upgraded to the windows 7 operating system shall be vulnerable to viruses and fraud attacks, since the new security patches shall not work on them.
Worldwide, 2.2m ATMs are vulnerable. In Nigeria a significant number of the installed base shall be affected. The solution is a simple upgrade of the operating system if the ATM is upgradable.
This is free if the bank has been paying their software maintenance fee. They will otherwise have to incur huge capital costs to repurchase the new software licenses.
Available data suggests that many banks have not kept up with the software support fees. A further complication is that certain category of ATMs cannot be upgraded because of non USB Interfaces. These have to be replaced, and will further deplete the already stretched ATM density.
Lastly, there are serious challenges in stable and consistent power supply, and network connectivity, both of which the ATM cannot operate without.
There are also infrastructure challenges in access roads to ATMs in rural areas which cause support engineers to spend significantly more ‘travel time’ than ‘dwell time’ to fix machines.
A possible solution will be for service providers to have enough support offices across the country than depend on engineers being dispatched only from the three commercial centers of Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. Cross training support engineers on ATMs, inverters and network connectivity will ensure that the first engineer to arrive at the ATM can fix the fault and does not have to call another specialist.
A monitoring system if installed by the provider would ensure that the ATM correctly diagnoses itself and advices on the correct spare part to be carried to site.
A monitoring system will however, require client licenses on the ATMs for which maintenance fees are due to be paid, and which many banks shy away from.
Banks are by no means the only clog in the wheel of good ATM customer experience. Some of the blame lie squarely on the shoulders of the service providers.
In a bid to win business at all costs they are ready to accept terms that tempt them to cut corners in quality of products and service delivery.
For example, there is a need to install monitoring systems and a call centre to aid support efficacy.
There is also a need to ensure that the custodians are sufficiently trained to provide the crucial first level support.
The negligence of these will make the support process expensive, unwieldy and ineffective. This drives the proverbial ‘race to the bottom’ for all stakeholders.
A decimation in the number of service providers or their replacement by uncertified operators willing to collect the cutthroat rates offered by the banks will not bode any good tidings for the banks nor their customers.
Another emerging class in the clog of ATM availability is the gang of Marauders who attempt to blow-up the ATMs to gain access to the cash in the safes.
For this group, Banknote staining could be an effective prevention technique, in which the anticipated reward of the crime is removed by denying the benefits, by marking the cash stolen with special security ink. Of course the ink should be machine detectable to ensure that deposit machines reject stained notes.
Surprisingly, some customers are also culpable. Furiously banging the ATM when ‘it swallows your card’ or does not dispense the money on your transaction will not solve any problem.
If anything at all, it will only compound the problem by taking that ATM out of service. In the rare instance of this anomaly, the right thing to do is to call the number on the ATM body or visit the bank.
There are usually journal entries and time stamps that will prove that you were not paid what you have been inadvertently debited, and a routine for redress and refund instituted.
While acknowledging the significant progress that we have recorded in payment systems, underpinned by the opportunity for the average Nigerian to be availed of having access to the global installed base of ATMs, courtesy of his local bank ATM card, and without recourse to a foreign bank account and ATM card, there is still the need to ensure that charity truly begins at home.
The above is not intended as an exercise in ATM service indictments, but rather a discourse that will help in the appreciation, and management of the root cause of the below average ATM customer experience in Nigeria from which we are all groaning.
Okere is Group CEO, CWG PLC & Entrepreneur in Residence, CBS
Fidelity Bank Plc has announced the appointment of Mrs Amaka Onwughalu as the new Chairman of its Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2026, following the completion of Mr Mustafa Chike-Obi’s tenure on December 31, 2025.
Mrs Amaka Onwughalu
The seamless board transition aligns with the tier-one lender’s governance policy and has been duly notified to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), and other key stakeholders.
During Mr Chike-Obi’s stewardship, Fidelity Bank achieved remarkable milestones, including the full repayment of its Eurobond, successful execution of an oversubscribed public offer and rights issue by 237 per cent and 137.73 per cent respectively, and expansion into the United Kingdom market.
The bank also fortified its capital base, recorded robust growth in customer deposits and total assets, advanced its digital banking infrastructure, and elevated its corporate and investment banking offerings under his leadership.
Notable strides were made in governance, risk management, and operational efficiency, all of which bolstered market confidence and sustained the bank’s impressive performance trajectory.
Reflecting on his time at the helm, Mr Chike-Obi said: “It has been a privilege to serve as Chairman of Fidelity Bank. The dedication of our Board, management, and staff has enabled us to reach significant milestones. I am confident that the Bank will continue to thrive and deliver value to all stakeholders.”
Mrs Onwughalu, who joined the board in December 2020 and chaired several key committees, brings over 30 years of banking expertise, including executive positions at Mainstreet Bank Limited and Skye Bank Plc.
She holds degrees in Economics, Corporate Governance, and Business Administration, alongside executive training from leading global institutions, and is a Fellow of multiple professional bodies with accolades for accountability and financial management.
“I am honoured to lead the Board of Fidelity Bank at this exciting time. Our recent achievements have set a strong foundation for continued growth. I look forward to working with my colleagues to drive our strategy and deliver sustainable value,” Mrs Onwughalu stated.
Recognised among Nigeria’s top-performing banks, Fidelity Bank serves over 9.1 million customers via digital platforms, 255 business offices across Nigeria, and its UK subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.
The institution has garnered numerous awards, including the 2024 Excellence in Digital Transformation & MSME Banking by BusinessDay BAFI Awards, Most Innovative Mobile Banking Application for its Fidelity Mobile App by Global Business Outlook, and Most Innovative Investment Banking Service Provider by Global Brands Magazine.
It was also named Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by Euromoney Awards for Excellence and Export Financing Bank of the Year by BusinessDay BAFI Awards.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has officially metamorphosed into the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), unveiling its new institutional brand identity.
The development ushers a new dawn in revenue administration in the country as the new tax laws come into force today.
The NRS came into operation following the signing of its enabling law known as the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Act 2025 by President Bola Tinubu in June 2025.
Speaking at the unveiling of the logo yesterday in Abuja, Executive Chairman of NRS, Zacch Adedeji, explained that the logo and other brand elements for NRS represented an important milestone in the evolution of Nigeria’s revenue administration framework.
This came as a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) turned down a request to stop the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government from implementing the new tax regime scheduled to commence from January 1, 2026.
Also, Director General, Budget Office of the Federation (BoF), Tanimu Yakubu, reaffirmed the integrity of the country’s newly enacted Tax Reform Acts, cautioning against what it described as governance by speculation and unverified claims following allegations of post-passage alterations.
However, delivering ruling, Justice Bello Kawu declined the request and directed the federal government to proceed with the full implementation of the tax law pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
Though the ruling was delivered on December 23, the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the ruling signed by the Registrar of the court, Hadiza Sambo Gwandu, dated December 30, 2025, was obtained on Wednesday.
The judge held that there was no concrete and strong evidence before the court to warrant the granting of the reliefs sought.
Specifically, Justice Kawu said: “I have considered the application together with the affidavit in support. I have also considered the submission of the learned counsel for the claimant/applicant together with the judicial authorities cited and I am of the strong view that the court lacks power to stop implementation of a law already signed by the appropriate authority without concrete evidence of any wrong doing.
“At this preliminary stage, it will be difficult if not impossible to prove any wrong doing because at this stage, the court should be careful not to touch on the main issue. It is my considered opinion that granting injunction at this preliminary stage will be touching the subject matter in the main suit.
It should be noted that once an Act is signed into law, it can only be repealed by the lawmakers or any offending section set aside by the court of law; be that as it may, exparte application cannot be used to set aside the coming into force any Act already signed into law or gazetted.
“In view of the above, the implementation of the Tax Act 2025 and other related Acts will commence on January 1, 2026 and continue to be in force pending the hearing and determination of the originating motion before this court, “ Justice Kawu ruled.
Meanwhile, the matter has further been adjourned to January 9, 2026 for hearing of the motion on notice.
President Bola Tinubu had few days ago vowed to proceed with the implementation of the controversial Nigeria Tax Act, 2025.
Responding, a public interest group, the Incorporated Trustees of African Initiative for Abuse of Public Trust, had approached the court with a motion exparte seeking an order of injunction to restrain Tinubu and the federal government from proceeding with the implementation of the new tax law, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed by the group.
The group predicated their legal action on alleged discrepancies in the new tax laws.
Listed as defendants in the motion marked: FCT/HC/M/17240/2025, are the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Attorney General of the Federation, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives and National Assembly as defendants.
The plaintiff in the motion exparte sought for an order of interim injunction pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit to stop/ restrain the federal government, FIRS, National Assembly, or any of its agencies from implementing, executing, and/or enforcing any of the provisions of the gazetted Nigeria Tax Act, 2025, Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025 or the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2025 for any reasons, pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice.
They also sought for another order of interim injunction pending the hearing and determination of the motion notice, restraining the President, either by himself or through any agency of the federal government created under the gazette Nigeria Tax Act, 2025 Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025 or the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2025 from implementing the provisions of those Acts of the National Assembly in any states of the federation where applicable, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
However, Adedeji, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser (Media), Dare Adekanmbi, said, “The unveiling of the NRS identity reflects a renewed commitment to a more unified, efficient, and service-oriented revenue system, one that is aligned with Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda and global best practices.”
He said the new identity signalled, “continuity of purpose, strengthened institutional capacity, and a forward-looking approach to supporting taxpayers and national development.
“The Nigeria Revenue Service remains committed to transparency, partnership, and service excellence.
“The unveiling of this new identity represents not an end, but the beginning of a strengthened relationship between the revenue authority and the Nigerian public—built on trust, clarity, and shared prosperity.”
However, Yakubu, in a statement, said the budget office had taken note of concerns raised by the Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives, stressing that the sanctity of the law is central to constitutional democracy and not a mere procedural formality.
According to the office, any suggestion that a law could be altered after debate, passage, authentication, and presidential assent without due process would strike at the core of the republic and undermine citizens’ right to be governed by transparent and stable laws.
The budget office, warned that democratic integrity is also endangered by the careless amplification of unverified claims.
Yakubu said, “A nation cannot be governed by insinuation or sustained on circulating documents of uncertain origin,” adding that public confidence, once shaken by speculation, is often difficult to restore.
BoF emphasised that both government and citizens share a common interest in truth, clarity, and due process, noting that public finance depends heavily on trust in the legality and clarity of fiscal laws.
It welcomed the decision of the National Assembly to investigate the allegations, describing institutional inquiry, not conjecture as the appropriate response to claims of illegality.
On public access to the law, the office agreed that Nigerians and the business community are entitled to clear and authoritative texts of all laws they are required to obey.
Yakubu clarified, however, that the authenticity of legislation is determined by certified legislative records and official publication processes, not by informal or viral reproductions.
He also underscored the importance of separation of powers, warning that claims suggesting Nigeria is being governed by “fake laws,” if not backed by established facts, risk eroding confidence in democratic institutions.
He stressed that legislative scrutiny should not be dismissed by the executive, noting that oversight is a constitutional duty, not an act of hostility.
From a fiscal perspective, the budget office said legal certainty is essential for revenue projections, macroeconomic stability, budget credibility, and investor confidence.
While it is not the custodian of legislative records, it maintained that uncertainty around operative tax provisions directly affects economic planning.
To restore confidence, the office proposed a set of measures, including the publication of verified reference texts in a single public repository, orderly access to Certified True Copies for stakeholders, clear public explanations where discrepancies are alleged, and strict alignment of all implementing regulations with authenticated legal texts.
Further addressing calls for suspension of the tax reforms, Yakubu cautioned against allowing prudence to slide into paralysis, arguing that properly implemented tax reform is necessary to reduce dependence on borrowing and inflationary financing, while easing indirect burdens on vulnerable citizens.
He said, “Where clarification is required, it must be provided; where correction is required, it must be effected; where investigation is required, it must proceed”, adding that governance and reform should not be stalled by unresolved conjecture.
The BoF reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to fiscal transparency, institutional integrity, and reforms that advance national prosperity while safeguarding citizens’ rights.
Commercial banks in Nigeria will begin charging a N50 stamp duty on electronic transfers of N10,000 and above starting January 1, 2026, in line with the newly enacted Tax Act.
CBN
The Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), now rebranded as stamp duty, applies as a one-off fee on any electronic receipt or transfer into accounts at commercial banks or financial institutions for amounts reaching or exceeding N10,000—or its equivalent in other currencies.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) notified customers via email on Tuesday, confirming the shift where senders, rather than recipients, will now bear the charge. Salary payments and intra-bank self-transfers remain exempt.
“Stamp Duty applies to transactions of N10,000 and above,” the email stated, emphasising transparency in the change from previous deductions borne by beneficiaries.
This levy forms part of broader tax reforms pushed by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, aimed at fiscal restructuring despite public pushback.
UBA reaffirmed its commitment to keeping customers informed amid evolving banking regulations.
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