Interbank ATMs use catches on
Commenting on the report covering the first 15 weeks of the Interbank ATM Switching Transactions, the Chief Executive Officer of GhIPSS, Mr Archie Hesse, said the patronage depended more on reliability and location of the ATM rather than the number of outlets.
He, therefore, said the perception that the smaller banks would only parasite on the extensive network of the bigger banks was not supported by the data, saying “rather the strategic location of the ATM could be the main factor.”
The Interbank ATM Transaction Switching enables bank customers to use their local cards in the ATM outlets of other banks.
Currently 15 banks including Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana Commercial Bank, Ecobank and Stanbic Bank are connected to the gh-link platform that enables their customers to enjoy this service.
Other connected banks are Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, Agriculture Development Bank, Unibank, Access Bank, UT Bank, and HFC Bank. The rest are Prudential Bank, Bank of Africa and Guaranty Trust Bank.
The rest are at various stages of completion and their customers will also begin to enjoy the service shortly.
A summary of transactions on the interbank ATMs, released by GhIPSS showed that customers of some big banks are rather using more of the ATMs of the smaller banks.
The report, which covers transactions from the end of August till date, for instance indicated the most used ATM for interbank transaction was Zenith Bank.
Over 2,770 transactions took place on Zenith bank ATMs, while customers of Zenith Bank who used the ATMs of other banks amounted to only four transactions.
Mr Hesse explained that since there was some charge when a bank’s ATM was used by non-customers, while the customer on the other hand enjoyed convenience, the service represented a win-win situation.
The GhIPSS boss, who was also pleased with the increasing number of people using the ATMs of other banks, said the company would embark on a massive education to ensure that the number of transactions moved from the current figure of over 1,000 per week to 11,000 per week, a feat he said, was achievable. GB