Organised Labour in the financial sector, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), and National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) have expressed worry over scarcity of funds in Automated Teller Machines.
They claimed that the purposes of ATMs and Point of Sales (POS) terminals are nowadays being eroded with the current applications.
Leadership Newspaper reported that the labour unions said bank customers are indirectly being compelled to patronise POS operators due to non-availability of cash in ATMs.
Olusoji Oluwole, the president of ASSBIFI, noted that such shortages in dispensing of funds could take place when there is not enough allocation of funds to banks, adding that managers of Banks may not be blamed since they are working with allocated funds.
Responding on the the operations of POS agents which tends to overshadow ATM machines, Oluwole said,
“Banks have invested heavily in ATM infrastructure and will always desire to yield the benefits of the investment. Funds in ATMs may not be adequate due to shortages of cash but no institution will be stylishly sidelining use of ATM to the advantage of POS Operators whose primary function was to provide community banking services.”
On his part, the deputy general, Aboderin Philip Olusola, secretary, NUBIFIE, said he wondered how mopping of funds should be done without proper study by the constituted authority.
ATM and POS are supposed to be for financial inclusion. They are meant to take care of the unbanked areas, but competing with commercial banks is absurd or else the jobs of those employed to feed ATM machines will be on the line as they may have no need of their services anymore.
“First and foremost, the purpose of ATM machines and POS are meant to serve the unbanked communities where banks are not available. But nowadays, one sees POS operators near banking premises. What are they doing there, they are supposed to go into interior parts or hotel etc premises to meet needs of people.”
According to Aboderin, as banks are paying tax for each ATM to interswitxh and the apex bank for use of ATM machines, they should serve customers with functional ATM.
Although jobs have been created for POS operators, he wondered where they are getting funds and called on government for proper regulation to save customers from too much taxes.
