Nigerians call for scrapping of ATM System

The current upsurge and nefarious activities of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) fraudsters is threatening electronic payment system in the nation's banking sector with users threatening massive dumping of the cards if the unwholesome act is not checked.

An investigation carried out revealed that two of every five ATM card users lately, have become victims of one form of fraud or the other and ironically the sector's regulator, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), service provider, Interswitch, law enforcement agents and banks are helpless as they have not been able to proffer any solution.

Only recently, the CBN admitted that hundreds of millions of naira was lost to ATM-related theft last year alone. Every week, hundreds of bank customers across major cities are finding their deposits or a substantial part of it stolen by faceless crooks. The Special Fraud Unit (SFU) also confirmed recently that ATM fraud is on the increase in Nigeria.

It was also revealed that the activities of the fraudsters cut across all the banks having ATM facilities. Consequently, a some of the users have said the technology should be scrapped if the activities of the scammers cannot be curtailed.

In most of the banks visited, security men that were supposed to watch out for criminals coming into the banking halls now take affected ATM victims through complaints procedures. The queues seen in banks nowadays are that of ATM complainants and in most cases, the issues are never resolved.

The list of affected victims is endless. Mr. Christian Obed, a media practitioner was cash trapped in midst of an assignment and had to rushed to a nearby branch of the bank where his account is domiciled to make withdrawal via the Automated Teller Machine (ATM). To his consternation, his account read zero balance. Further enquiries from the counter did not prove otherwise. He was faced with reality that his hard earned life savings of N154, 000 had gone with the wind courtesy yet to be identified fraudsters.

On her part, a woman who simply gave her name as Mrs Ngozi was caught weeping profusely in front of a bank on Allen Avenue, Ikeja. She had come to make withdrawal at the ATM to send to her daughter in the university who had sent a distress call, but to her surprise, her account had been emptied. Efforts to get the bank officials to answer her had proved abortive.

It is not all about duping, the issues ranged from cards trapped inside the machine to PIN rejection.

It is all tales of woes from duped Nigerians. Many had lost their entire savings to hackers. These fraudulent activities which started like a play has assumed a dangerous dimension, threatening the entire e-payment system in the banking industry and the attendant benefits to the economy.

The ATM technology which was introduced barely three years ago has been beneficial to users until the latest developments. Customers now have access to their accounts at all times. It was indeed one of the key benefits of consolidation in the banking sector.

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