Charges on ATM withdrawals are back, courtesy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The apex bank had abolished them, at 100 naira per transaction, in December 2012, much to the relief of ATM users.
Their recent re-introduction, now pegged at N65 per transaction from the third and subsequent withdrawals on ATM of another bank other than the customer's own, is a step in the wrong direction that could hurt ongoing efforts to promote electronic banking and cashless transaction in the country. The new policy is due to take effect from next month. The applause that greeted the 2012 decision was a clear indication that any charge on the use of ATM meant a lot to millions of bank customers, some of who sometimes withdraw as little as N500 because of their low deposit base. The idea of electronic banking was meant, among others, to help make bank transactions more convenient to the average customer and to also decongest the banking halls of most of the banks. It was also to attract more Nigerians to save their money in established financial institutions and not under pillows or buried in the ground.
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