Banking: why clients have abnormal phobia of ATMs

DESPITE Tanzania boasting around 45 commercial banks and thousands of related Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), local bank customers still opt to accomplish their banking transactions with help from flesh-and-blood tellers manning service counters in the banking hall, instead of using the state-of-the-art technology built into the teller machines at everyone's disposal! A random survey has established that many bank customers in Dar es Salaam flock into banking halls where they line up in single file, and slowly inch their way to the service counter of their choice to have their transactions processed by tellers. This may take hours to accomplish, although it is believed that the ATMs system would be quicker. At the end of the day, bank tellers are harrowed, harried and harassed by flocks of customers who, albeit well-meaning, could have saved frayed tempers if they had chosen to treat the ATMs' path! The survey showed that one of the reasons for this is that many customers are not particularly familiar with operations of the ATMs systems and, as such, give them a wide berth, preferring to deal face to face with fellow human beings, known in the trade as 'bank tellers!' This, however, is not particularly surprising, partly because ATMs have this nasty habit of breaking down in mid-transaction. This could be for technical problems on the part of the machines; it could also very well be because of faulty operating of the machine by account holders... or hackers! This latter is another reason why account holders avoid ATMs.

A European lady withdrawing cash from the ATM machine. The machines have become losers of people’s cash and are no longer trusted.

Customers who spoke to Business times on this one complained (on condition of anonymity) that they have had some of their moneys stolen from their accounts through the ATMs system. Customers of the third largest bank in Tanzania, National Micro-finance Bank (NMB) who spoke to this writer expressed disappointment regarding the time consumed in accessing services at the counters, especially at the end of the month when salaried customers turn up for their pay! But, they all fell short of reasons why they eschew the ATM's networks. Instead they all called for the bank authorities to look into ways and means of reduce congestions in banking halls... If necessary by additional staff and service counters! NMB is one of Tanzania’s largest banks by assets, accounting for some 40 per cent of the industry’s capital; 45 per cent of loan issuances; 48 per cent of the assets; 52 per cent of deposits, and 54 per cent of number of branches and investments in government securities. The bank boasts customer base to 1.4 million accounts,; more than 400 ATMs, and offers debit cards and mobile banking services to its customers across Tanzania, using a new system based on IBM’s Power servers and storage technologies. But all this notwithstanding, NMB banking halls are about the most congested in the country! An electronics technician, Josephat Zegayo. noted that the ATMs system is basically designed for money withdrawals, not for deposit purposes. For this, customers wishing to deposit money have to line up and head for the tellers at the counter to be served ― oftentimes taking up to two hours for this! Ahmed Kisembo a bank customer with the CRDB Bank Dar es Salaam since 2005, frankly stated that he does have difficulty operating an ATM. CRDB Bank Plc is another “leading, wholly privately-owned commercial bank in Tanzania. The bank offers a comprehensive range of Corporate, Retail, Business, Treasury, Premier, and wholesale micro-finance services through a network of 60 branches, ATMs, Mobile branches, Point of Sales (PoS) terminals and scores of Micro-finance partners institutions. It also operates through Internet and Mobile banking services...” For her part, Marceline Mwambane ― another CRDB Bank customer ― complained of the bank’s failure to provide enough working facilities, as well as efficient clerks. She assumes that the few available clerks are routinely overburdened by the number of customers flooding banking halls. Mzee Isaya Kizimba Dyoya, a businessman from Kasulu District, and a long-standing bank customer since 1960s, expressed dismay at the human congestion in the banking hall of the NMB Headquarters Branch along Azikiwe Street in Dar es Salaam. He spent 90 minutes in the sweltering place to deposit a cheque! Another bank customer, Zuberi Mwika who came to Dar from Bagamoyo to withdraw money from his account, also complained of long queue in a sweltering banking hall. Asked why he did not make a beeline for the ATM outside, Mwika said after his ATM card got stuck in the machine sometime ago, he has developed a morbid fear of ATMs as a breed! A senior bank official who agreed to comment on the issues on condition his identity was not published stated “most ATMs are not serviced regularly, an aspect that makes some of them fail to work properly. “However,” he said, “the banking sub-sector does all it can to rectify the machines, a work that is mostly done by professional design experts from outside the country...”