A higher percentage of Nigerians make use of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) compare to their counterparts in Ghana and U.K., an assessment by Computer Warehouse Group Plc has revealed.
James Agada, Chief Executive Officer of the Group, who shared the outcome of the assessment, said the average ATM in Nigeria dispenses thrice the number of notes in Ghana and ten times the number of notes in U.K.
Agada who spoke at an editors’ workshop organised by CWG Plc at the Group’s Academy in Lagos, said “By accepted proportion, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria, we should have at least 60,000 ATMs installed but only 15,000 ATMs are available to serve the teeming population. The number of people with ATM cards keeps increasing by the day, despite the shortfall in ATMs and Nigeria still ranks higher in ATM usage.”
He agreed that ATMs do sometimes develop faults and break down but however said these problems are overstated. “The core issue we have with the ATMs are that we don’t have enough of them and the few around are overwhelmed.”
The CWG boss, who spoke against the background of ATM related fraud in the country, said it is not peculiar to the Nigeria environment, but was a global challenge that was receiving attention from various quarters.
He also went on to say; “as far as ATM security is concerned, Nigeria is more secured compared to places like the U.S.A. or U.K. In Nigeria we have many measures being deployed to curb the problem of ATM-related fraud. We also have PIN-Shield, security cameras, mirrors, encryption technology, anti-phishing devices fixed on the ATM and we are not resting on our oars.”
The ICT expert, who emphasised that no technology is completely impregnable, observed that: “There’s nowhere you carry out transactions, without the risk of some likely fraudulent potential.
“You will recall that the Central Bank of Bangladesh was scammed and lost $80million to fraud which has gone untraced till date. So if the system of the Central Bank can be compromised by these fraudsters, no one is spared.
“Bearing this reality in mind, the truth is there is no absolute security because these technology keep evolving; hence it is key to ensure that the good technology solutions stay ahead of the bad,” he said.
JUMOKE AKIYODE
