Nigerians withdraw N4.7 trillion through ATMs in 2016

The value of cash withdrawals through Automatic 
Tiller Machines (ATMs) rose sharply to N4.7 trillion in 
2016,indicating increasing appetite for cash transactions among Nigerians.

This was disclosed by the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) in its electronic payment factsheet
 for 2016.

NIBSS disclosed that the banking industry has 
61 million active bank customers and 65 million 
active bank accounts. It also revealed that there are 
25 million current accounts, 69 million savings account, 
six million corporate accounts and 84 million individual accounts, while 26 million bank customers have been
enrolled for Biometric Verification Numbers (BVN).

Volume of ATM withdrawals

The report shows that value of ATM cash withdrawals 
rose by 22.5 percent to N4.7 trillion from N3.97 trillion in
 2015. The volume or number of ATM withdrawals also 
rose sharply by 39 percent to 607 million from 434 million
 in 2015.

According to the president Bank Customers Association
 of Nigeria (BCAN), Dr. Uju Ogubunka, the sharp increase 
in value and volume of ATM withdrawals implies that: 

“Nigeria is still a cash-driven society. People are 
spending from their savings since there is no
 business and salaries are being owed. It is
bad for the economy as investible fund is being depleted.”

The NIBSS report also revealed that Nigerians spent
 N132.36 billion through the internet in 14 million
 transactions.

Also bank customers made 63.7 million transactions worth
N759 billion through point of sale (PoS), while 47 million
mobile payment transactions worth N756 billion were
conducted through the 21 licensed mobile payment
 operators.

The report showed that bank customers issued N11.7 
million cheques in 2016 valued at N5.8 trillion naira.

Bank customers also made 154 million instant transfers value at N38 trillion using the NIBSS Instant Payment platform. On the other hand, the volume and value of interbank transfer (bank to bank), through NIBSS stood
 at 25 million and N12 trillion.