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Tag: ATM

  • CBN orders instant refund of dispense errors at banks’ ATM

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered quick refund of failed transactions and dispense errors at banks’ Automated Teller Machine (ARM).

    In a circular by its spokesman, Isaac Okorafor, titled: “CBN Revises Timelines for Dispense Errors, Refund Complaints”, on Sunday, the apex bank listed how the banks should quickly resolve the problems and resolve the customer complaints.

    The circular reads: “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in its determination to further enhance service quality, particularly quick refunds when customers experience failed transactions, dispense errors or disputes, has revised timelines for reversals and/or resolution of refund complaints on electronic channels, with effect from June 8, 2020, as follows: Failed “On-Us” ATM transactions (when customers use their cards on their bank’s ATMs) shall be instantly reversed from the current timeline of three (3) days. Where instant reversal fails due to any technical issue or system glitch, the timeline for manual reversal shall not exceed 24 hours.

    Refunds for failed “Not-on-Us” ATM transactions (where customers use their cards on other banks’ ATMs) shall not exceed 48 hours from the current 3-5 days.

    Resolution of disputed/failed PoS or Web transactions shall be concluded within 72 hours from the current five (5) days.

    All banks are directed to resolve backlog of all ATM, POS and Web customer refunds within two weeks starting June 8, 2020”

    Meanwhile, key service providers in the Nigerian payments system have also committed to establishing an integrated dispute resolution platform for the industry and enhance their payment system infrastructure and processes to reduce incidences of transaction failure.

    Members of the public are therefore requested to refer to the updated Guidelines for the Operation of Electronic Payment Channels on the Bank’s website (www.cbn.gov.ng) for further details.

  • Respite for bank customers as CBN revises timelines for resolving failed transactions

    Respite for bank customers as CBN revises timelines for resolving failed transactions

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revised timelines for reversals and/or resolution of refund complaints on electronic channels with effect from June 8, 2020.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the CBN made this known in a statement signed by Isaac Okorafor, Director of Corporate Communications.

    According to the statement, the revision was in determination to further enhance service quality, particularly quick refunds when customers experience failed transactions, dispense errors or disputes.

    For Failed “On-Us” ATM transactions, i.e. when customers use their cards on their bank’s ATMs, such transactions shall be instantly reversed from the current timeline of three (3) days.

    “Where instant reversal fails due to any technical issue or system glitch, the timeline for manual reversal shall not exceed 24 hours,” the CBN stated.

    For refunds for failed “Not-on-Us” ATM transactions, i.e. where customers use their cards on other banks’ ATMs, reversal shall not exceed 48 hours from the current 3-5 days.

    According to the CBN, resolution of disputed/failed PoS or Web transactions shall be concluded within 72 hours from the current five (5) days.

    The apex bank directed all banks to resolve backlog of all ATM, POS and Web customer refunds within two weeks starting June 8, 2020.

    Meanwhile, Okorafor in the statement revealed that key service providers in the Nigerian payments system have committed to establish an integrated dispute resolution platform for the industry and enhance their payment system infrastructure and processes to reduce incidences of transaction failure.

    Members of the public were further requested to refer to the updated Guidelines for the Operation of Electronic Payment Channels on the Bank’s website www.cbn.gov.ng for details.

  • FCMB speaks on customer who collapsed while using ATM, dismisses COVID-19 insinuations

    FCMB speaks on customer who collapsed while using ATM, dismisses COVID-19 insinuations

    First City Monument bank (FCMB) on Tuesday reacted to reports of a customer who collapsed at its Onipanu Branch in Lagos while using the Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

    Recall that TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) had exclusively reported how the unidentified customer collapsed and was assisted by the bank’s security officials.

    However, in a swift response on Tuesday via a statement, the bank said while he it is true that the customer collapsed, he (the customer) never exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 as insinuated on social media.

    Read full statement below:

    “Our attention has been drawn to a video making the rounds which shows a customer collapsing at our branch located at 178, Ikorodu Road, Onipan, Lagos State. We wish to clarify that:

    •At around 11am on Monday, May 04, 2020 a middle-aged man visited the branch to carry out a transaction on the ATM. In line with our COVID-19 health and safety measures, his temperature was taken and found to be normal, and a hand sanitizer was available for use beside the machine

    •While standing in line, however, the customer began to show signs of fatigue and collapsed. The fully masked and gloved branch support personnel came to his assistance, moving him to the branch security post.

    •Upon enquiry, the customer indicated he had not had anything to eat and had been waiting in line for a short while. After resting and eating some snacks, he regained his strength and left the branch on his own.

    •At no point did the customer exhibit any symptoms of respiratory distress, difficulty in breathing or high temperature as has been incorrectly reported on social media

    We understand the panic a 13-second video such as currently making the rounds can cause without the proper context at such a time as this. The current outbreak of COVID-19 has led to an unprecedented health situation and anxiety all around the world, including in Nigeria, where community transmission continues to rise. Ideally, this current anxiety should not be amplified by unverified, dramatic and purely hypothetical social media stories. We need to channel our energies towards curtailing the spread of the pandemic and ultimately, eradicating it entirely.

    FCMB is at the forefront of the drive to achieve these two objectives. We have deployed robust health and safety measures at all our open branches including making use of face masks by customers and staff mandatory; checking of temperature before admittance into our premises; provision of hand sanitizers which must be used before entry into the banking halls and ATM areas; hourly disinfecting of teller counters and customer service tables; and ensuring social distance is maintained at all times.

    We assure the public that we will remain unwavering in our commitment to doing all we can to safeguard our customers, employees and communities.”

  • VIDEO: Man with breathing problems, high temperature, collapses while using ATM in Lagos

    VIDEO: Man with breathing problems, high temperature, collapses while using ATM in Lagos

    The video of a yet-to-be identified customer who collapsed while using the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) of a First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Branch at the Onipanu area of Lagos has surfaced.

    In the video obtained exclusively by TheNewsGuru.com (TNG), some security officials were seen carrying the man to the entrance of the bank for attention from the ATM where he collapsed.

    According to eyewitness accounts, when the security men on duty checked the man’s temperature, it was above the normal 98.6°F (37°C) range.

    While the symptoms exhibited by the customer are COVID-19 related, however, TNG could not independently confirm as at the time of filing this report if he (the customer) is truly COVID-19 positive. Efforts by TNG to reach the bank for comments was also successful as at the time of filing this report.

    TNG reports that President Muhammadu Buhari had last week ordered a gradual relaxing of the lockdown which had been imposed on Lagos, Ogun and Abuja since Monday, 30th of March 2020 to help curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

    Sequel to the relaxation of the lockdown which took effect on Monday (today), some Lagosians were seen grossly disrespecting the social distancing and compulsory use of mask in public sending signals that there might be an explosion in numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths in the coming weeks.

  • Mobile policeman rapes ATM user at gun point

    A mobile policeman in Anambra has been detained for allegedly defiling a 35-year-old lady in the premises of one of the new generation banks.

    The victim (name withheld) was said to have gone to make some transactions at the bank’s Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in the night when the incident occurred.

    Confirming the report, Commissioner of police, Rabiu Ladodo, said the command was still investigating the matter.

    He said the command would make the report public after investigation being handled by the state Criminal investigation Department CID, Awka

    The Nation gathered that the suspect, employed as a security guard to the bank, had approached the victim, demanding to have sexual intercourse with her.

    An employee of the bank, who pleaded anonymity, said the victim had initially refused the request until she was threatened with a gun by the suspect.

    According to the source: “With her life threatened, and nobody around to rescue her, she submitted and he had his way”

    The source further revealed that the victim stormed the bank the following day with some policemen who arrested the suspect.

    Ladodo said: “Soon after the police received complaint of the alleged rape from the victim, operatives were dispatched and the suspect was quickly arrested and placed under detention.”

    But he said that preliminary investigation was yet to establish whether the victim was raped during the incident.

    Ladodo however assured that the suspect would face necessary punishment if found guilty.

  • Nigeria’s e-payment transactions hit N56.85trn

    Nigeria’s e-payment transactions hit N56.85trn

    Report from the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), have indicated that Nigeria’s electronic payment (e-payment) services, recorded transactions worth N56.85 trillion from January to September, 2018.

    The report showed an increase of N16.4 trillion when compared to the N40.45 trillion that was recorded in the corresponding period of 2017.

    The report showed that most of the electronic transactions were done through the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP), Point of Sale (PoS), Automated Transfer Machines (ATMs), Mobile Money, Electronic Bills Payment (E-Bills) and Web payments.

    A breakdown of the report showed that ATMs transactions grew from N4.61 trillion in 2017 to N4.76 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2018.

    Also, the volume of transactions on ATMs under the period in review grew from 560.86 million in 2017, to 650.06 million in 2018.

    The report showed a rise of about N635 billion in the use of POS machines to carry out payments by Nigerians.

    Under the review period, 98.73 million transactions worth N975 billion were carried out using POS in 2017, while in 2018, the volume grew to 196.83 million, valued at N1.61 trillion.

    Similarly, the volume of transactions carried out by Nigerians, using mobile money rose from N795.18 billion in 2017, to N1.22 trillion as at Sept, 2018.

    Also, using the web payment channel, the total value of transactions under the review period rose from N129.24 billion in 2017, to N183.07 billion in 2018.

    However, the value of such transactions on e-bill payments, which allowed customers to pay utility bills such as power, cable and so on online, declined from N420.73 billion in 2017 to N370 billion in 2018.

    Meanwhile, a Financial analyst, Dr Patricia Auta, has said that the NIBSS report showed an increased awareness and use of technology by individuals and businesses in the country.

    Auta urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to intensify efforts on cashless economy, especially in states, to further grow the electronic payment space.

    She also advised banks to stay competitive and drive growth by providing innovative alternate payment channels to customers.

     

  • Merger: Access, Diamond Banks offer free ATM services to customers

    Merger: Access, Diamond Banks offer free ATM services to customers

    Access Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc customers will from today have access to 3,100 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) that will provide free and seamless banking services to them.

    This follows the planned merger of the two Systematically Important Banks (SIBs) which is expected to be concluded in the first half of this year. The merger of the two lenders will give their customers access to the largest ATM network in the country.

    According to the two lenders, starting from today, their customers will have access to 3,100 ATMs free of charge.

    “Access Bank and Diamond Customers now have access to over 3,100 ATMs free of charge. This means that from January 1, 2019, you can use any Diamond Bank ATMs without paying the usual charges that apply on withdrawals from other banks’ ATMs. We are closer to you than ever before,” the bank said in a statement released on Monday.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had last month, gave a “No Objection” nod to the merger plans of Access Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc, the boards of both banks said yesterday.

    The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of this year.

    The merger will form a leading Tier 1 Nigerian bank and the largest bank in Africa by number of customers, spanning three continents, 12 countries and 29 million clients.

    The combination of our two businesses will create the largest retail bank in Africa by customer base and a very significant player in the Nigerian market. This is a huge step towards the delivery of our goal to bring the power of banking to millions of people across Nigeria and an exciting transaction for Access Bank and Diamond Bank’s customers, staff and shareholders.

     

     

  • Benin residents experience miserable Christmas

    Benin residents experience miserable Christmas

    Benin residents experienced a miserable 2018 Christmas as long queues surfaced at bank cash points known as the Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Points of Sale (PoS) in Benin City, Edo capital, according to checks.

    Most of the machines had failed to dispense cash during the Yuletide with scores of residents returning home disappointed.

    Some of the respondents who spoke in separate interviews with NAN on Wednesday described the situation as frustrating and unfortunate.

    According to them, most of the machines in the city have not been dispensing cash since Friday night, a situation which has resulted in spending long hours in the queue at the few ATMs that were working.

    Mr Peter Ojo, who said he was unable to get cash from the machines he visited on Friday night, regretted that the situation had not changed as at Christmas morning.

    “It is a very `funny’ thing that the banks did not make contingency plans for a period like this,” he told NAN.

    For Mr Osagie Mathew, he said had been in the queue since 6.00 a.m. on Wednesday waiting to cash money for the Christmas celebration.

    He said: “I have been to more than six ATM machines of different banks but the same thing applies to all: unable to dispense cash.

    “It is like a deliberate plan by all the banks to deprive their customers of cash withdrawals during holiday.

    “What we are experiencing now was just what happened during the last Christmas and Easter celebrations where we had to contend with the failure of ATMs and fuel scarcity.”

    A journalist, Osagie Omorogieva, said he trekked several kilometres to Akpakpava road, moving from one machine to another.

    “I tell you, it was all a futile effort as I could not get any of the machines that was dispensing cash in the long stretch of Akpakpava road.

    “The only two ATM machines at Diamond Bank and Union Bank that were dispensing cash was like a market place,” he said.

    NAN reports that the situation is not different at the ATM machines on both Airport road and Sapele road.

    A security guard at a new generation bank on Sapele road, who did not want his name in print, appealed to customers to exercise patience, saying the officials of the bank are already addressing the challenges to restore normalcy.

    “I’m sure the people responsible will come and look into this problem before the end of today.

    “I can tell you that the rush for cash by customers is largely responsible for this problem. But it will be sorted out soon,” he promised.

    Apart from the ATMs, most PoS centres were unable to attend to their customers’ needs due to network failure.

    A motorist, Mr John Omoruyi who described the situation as “appalling”, said he went to NNPC mega station with the hope of using their PoS to buy fuel but he could not get the transaction through owing to network problems.

    “They had network problem and I couldn’t buy fuel.

    “This is not just peculiar to the filling station as my friend also had a similar experience in one of the supermarkets where he was unable to make purchases due to the failure of PoS.”

     

  • Dismissed banker raids ATM gallery, steals N14m

    Dismissed banker raids ATM gallery, steals N14m

    A dismissed banker, Emmanuel Onuma, has been arrested by the police for breaking into the Automated Teller Machine gallery of his erstwhile employer and stealing N14m.

    The 34-year-old was said to have carried out the heist at the Garki, Abuja branch of the new generation bank on October 19, 2018.

    Parading Onuma alongside other suspects in Abuja on Wednesday, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Operations, Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Valentine Olumese, said the ex-banker was dismissed in August for fraudulent activities.

    READ ALSO: Passenger slumps, dies at Lagos airport

    “On November 1, in furtherance of an ongoing investigation, police operatives attached to the Garki Division arrested one Emmanuel Onuma, who broke into the ATM lobby of a bank located in Garki on October 19 at about midnight and stole the sum of N14m,” Olumese stated.

    He explained that the suspect confessed that he converted the money to $33,000 in Abuja and Kaduna for ease of movement.

    “Upon his arrest, the following amounts of money were recovered from him as exhibits: cash sum of $28,000; N1,650,120 and nine pieces of Ghana cedis. Other exhibits recovered from him include one new SIM card and flight tickets,” the commissioner added.

    Onuma, in an interview with journalists, admitted to the crime, stating that he carried out the act because the bank failed to pay his benefits after sacking him.

    “I worked with the bank for 11 years and I was not settled; no benefits, no settlement; but there is no justification for doing something wrong,” he stated and declined making further statements.

  • Beware! Bank staff, criminals collaborating to clone ATM cards, other documents, police warn Nigerians

    The Commissioner of Police, Anti-Fraud Unit, Federal Criminal Investigation Intelligence Department (FCIID) Ikoyi- Lagos, Dan Okoro, on Thursday raised alarm over many cloned certificates and ATM cards in circulation.
    Mr Okoro raised the alarm while briefing journalists in Lagos on the discovery of some cloned certificates by a syndicate, which specialised in printing fake documents of banks, government and corporate organisations.
    He said that the syndicate had been using the cloned documents to defraud banks, government, corporate organisations and individuals, stressing that some bank officials were collaborating with the suspects for the crime.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that among documents cloned by the syndicate included CBN, presidential clearance certificates, IMF and court documents.
    “I advise members of the public against cloned certificates, ATM card and other important documents currently in circulation. I want members of the public to keep their pin numbers, passwords and ATM safe.
    “We have some documents recovered from one suspect arrested. We are investigating the documents and some bank staffers allegedly collaborating the syndicate.
    “It is only the bankers that have details of every deposit in the bank. Our investigation revealed that some bankers give information to the syndicate on how much customers have in every account.
    “The syndicate cloned documents and transferred such money to another account, particularly, accounts with ATM cards are their easiest target.
    “Many crimes are going on in different banks, unfortunately, the bank management will not allow the public to know about it because they want to keep their customers trust,” he said.
    Mr Okoro said the unit was able to detect some of the documents through the assistance of a foreign cyber security firm based in Lagos using forensic analysis equipment to unravel the identities of the syndicate members.
    He noted that cyber crime was a global challenge, stressing that the unit was synergising with the foreign firm for capacity building for officers and men in the unit.
    The commissioner said the suspect arrested was currently in the hospital after he collapsed during search of his house and many incriminating materials, including hard drugs were discovered.
    “The suspect is a web site designer. He designed many of the cloned documents. We are on the trail of other members of the syndicate,” Mr Okoro said.