[htm]The Central Bank of Nigeria expressed concern at indiscriminate deployment of bank’s ATMs in public places - particularly hotel lobbies and airports, itnewsafrica.com reported. Consequently, banks are directed to restrict further deployment of ATMs to their premises and to withdraw bank ATMs in public places to their premises before June 30, 2009.

However, the CBN has commended the banks to reach the un-banked segment of its population through the deployment of ATMs across the nation.

The report said the CBN also officially made public its decision to begin the licensing process for an additional ATM Consortium with the sole mandate to deploy ATMs in public places thereby bringing to two the number of ATM consortia in the economy.

The ATMs have brought a new dimension to banking in Nigeria, making banking services and its delivery convenient and accessible. There is a growing demand for more ATMs across the country as the present distribution of bank ATMs are concentrated in Lagos and Abuja regions, the report revealed.

While bank customers are likely to feel the adverse effect of the withdrawal of bank’s ATMs from public places, it is expected that the present policy would give the ATM consortia in the country a business environment conducive to profitable deployment of their resources.

Hence, the number of ATMs and Point of Sales (POS) systems available in the country is expected to increase significantly. This technological development is also likely to boost other sectors of the economy that rely on ATMs and POS as business electronic distribution channels and payment systems. Such prospective beneficiaries include the telecommunication (recharge code distribution) and lottery (ATM/POS lotteries) industries.