Lahoris suffer as ATMs run out of cash
Neither financial services regulator nor SBP took notice of complaints
Representational image. PHOTO: REUTERS
LAHORE:
Long queues of people were seen outside ATM booths as teller machines of several commercial banks ran out of cash in various areas of the provincial capital.
Several bank consumers complained about the non-availability of cash at ATMs or poor network connectivity. Karim Bhatti said on the eve of Eidul Fitr, bank consumers have to face this ugly situation every year, but neither the commercial banks nor the financial services regulator, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), takes notice of these public complaints.
“If the bank managementsor the central bank take strict action over public complaints, the situation will be very different,” he maintained.
A private university student Irfan Butt said he had to visit nearly four ATM kiosks to withdraw money for Eid shopping.
“It seems that all machines have run out of cash. Bank consumers have to run from one ATM to another to withdraw money from their bank accounts,” he said. “Every year, bank consumers have to face inconvenience but no permanent solution to the problem has been discovered yet. The support staff of the bank helpline says that staff has been deployed to fill ATMs during holidays, but in reality, the situation on the ground is altogether different,” he lamented.
Another customer complained about poor network connectivity, bad link and issuer link down errors. He said banking was a service industry and it was very unfair that they denied the same at a time of need. “There must be some penalty on banks if their ATMs run out of cash or go offline during Eid holidays or any other festive season.”
The manager of a private bank said the entire banking system was running at its peak capacity on Eid. “Almost all banks have devised special operating procedures (SOPs) to monitor ATM networks across Pakistan. Special duty officers were deputed to ensure no ATM goes empty during Eid holidays,” he explained. “However, despite all these measures, sometimes bank consumers have to face difficulties due to machines’ malfunctioning or human error.”
A spokesperson for the central bank said SBP directed all commercial banks to make every possible arrangement to facilitate the general public and ensure uninterrupted availability of ATM services on the occasion of Eidul Fitr. The central bank also deployed inspectors and verification teams of the Banking Service Corporation (BSC) field offices to verify their operational status.
Reliance on alternative banking channel has been increased manifold during recent years. Payment Systems Review for the first quarter FY19 shows that these channels, like real-time online branches (RTOBs), ATMs, POS, internet banking, mobile phone banking, call centres, IVR banking and e-commerce facilitating retail value payments, are alternatives for faster delivery of banking services to a wide range of customers.
These e-banking channels are the major source of retail e-payments in Pakistan.
The report highlights that commercial banks deployed 129 new ATMs by quarter-end, making the total number of teller machines 14,148 in the country. This showed a quarterly increase in ATMs by 0.9%. During the quarter, ATMs processed 127.1 million transactions worth Rs1.5 trillion.
Despite the availability of other financial services, ATMs are mostly used for cash withdrawals in the country.
In total ATM transactions, cash withdrawals from ATMs have the highest share of 95.2% in volume with 88.6% share as value. The average ticket size of ATM transaction is Rs11,809.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2019.
Long queues of people were seen outside ATM booths as teller machines of several commercial banks ran out of cash in various areas of the provincial capital.
Several bank consumers complained about the non-availability of cash at ATMs or poor network connectivity. Karim Bhatti said on the eve of Eidul Fitr, bank consumers have to face this ugly situation every year, but neither the commercial banks nor the financial services regulator, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), takes notice of these public complaints.
“If the bank managementsor the central bank take strict action over public complaints, the situation will be very different,” he maintained.
A private university student Irfan Butt said he had to visit nearly four ATM kiosks to withdraw money for Eid shopping.
“It seems that all machines have run out of cash. Bank consumers have to run from one ATM to another to withdraw money from their bank accounts,” he said. “Every year, bank consumers have to face inconvenience but no permanent solution to the problem has been discovered yet. The support staff of the bank helpline says that staff has been deployed to fill ATMs during holidays, but in reality, the situation on the ground is altogether different,” he lamented.
Another customer complained about poor network connectivity, bad link and issuer link down errors. He said banking was a service industry and it was very unfair that they denied the same at a time of need. “There must be some penalty on banks if their ATMs run out of cash or go offline during Eid holidays or any other festive season.”
The manager of a private bank said the entire banking system was running at its peak capacity on Eid. “Almost all banks have devised special operating procedures (SOPs) to monitor ATM networks across Pakistan. Special duty officers were deputed to ensure no ATM goes empty during Eid holidays,” he explained. “However, despite all these measures, sometimes bank consumers have to face difficulties due to machines’ malfunctioning or human error.”
A spokesperson for the central bank said SBP directed all commercial banks to make every possible arrangement to facilitate the general public and ensure uninterrupted availability of ATM services on the occasion of Eidul Fitr. The central bank also deployed inspectors and verification teams of the Banking Service Corporation (BSC) field offices to verify their operational status.
Reliance on alternative banking channel has been increased manifold during recent years. Payment Systems Review for the first quarter FY19 shows that these channels, like real-time online branches (RTOBs), ATMs, POS, internet banking, mobile phone banking, call centres, IVR banking and e-commerce facilitating retail value payments, are alternatives for faster delivery of banking services to a wide range of customers.
These e-banking channels are the major source of retail e-payments in Pakistan.
The report highlights that commercial banks deployed 129 new ATMs by quarter-end, making the total number of teller machines 14,148 in the country. This showed a quarterly increase in ATMs by 0.9%. During the quarter, ATMs processed 127.1 million transactions worth Rs1.5 trillion.
Despite the availability of other financial services, ATMs are mostly used for cash withdrawals in the country.
In total ATM transactions, cash withdrawals from ATMs have the highest share of 95.2% in volume with 88.6% share as value. The average ticket size of ATM transaction is Rs11,809.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2019.