First Bank’s ATMs Account For 45% of Bill Payments in Nigeria

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, has said it presently accounts for 45 percent of bills payment services on Automated Teller Machines in the nation’s banking industry as at December 2015.

As at December 2015, about 275,000 bill payments were made through the bank’s Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) while the value of airtime purchase on all its ATMs was about N3 billion.

The bills payment option is one of the features of FirstBank’s ATMs, which also have other unique functional features which include cash transfer, air-time top-up, cash deposit among others.

The bills payment option is the non-cash transaction feature on the ATM that makes it easier for customers to pay for bills such as Cable TV subscription, post-paid phone bills, and pre- booked airline tickets. These transactions can be executed through the Quickteller option on any of the bank’s ATMs.

The Transfer feature enables customers to transfer money from their accounts to both intra (within FirstBank) and interbank (other banks) accounts, thereby reducing the queues in the banking hall, save time as well as provide a more convenient option for customers’ money transfer needs.

The bank is also currently responsible for over 40 percent of interbank transactions and 27 percent of airtime vending. As active mobile network users in Nigeria are over 151 million and the need to recharge is on the increase, the bank’s ATMs also provide the platform for easy top-up.

To further enhance convenience, FirstBank’s ATMs also operate the Cash Deposit function which allows customers to deposit funds without customarily having to enter a banking hall for this transaction.