The quest by Nigerian banks for the top positions in Africa, under the guidance of Chukwuma Soludo, is going well on the capital front, but remains very shaky on the technology leg.
First forced into mergers and recapitalisation by Soludo, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the banks have made great progress on the capital front, bridging the gap between them and their South African peers that lead the continent. But the gap in operational technology between the two is widening.
Whereas Nigeria has just about 3,000 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and 6,000 Point of Sale (POS) terminals, just two banks in South Africa have about 11,000 ATMs between them.
So, while Soludo congratulates his sector on quantum leap it achieved in past two years, it still has quite a high hurdle on the way to the top.
Facts emerging indicate that South Africa banks are not looking back on operational technology, thereby widening the huge gap between them and their Nigerian counterparts.
Just last week, banking groups, First National Bank (FNB) and Absa announced plans to spend R550 million (N9.8 billion) in rolling out new ATMs over the next three years as the big four banks in South Africa scramble to increase their share in the country’s banking market.
FNB plans to reinvest R150 million (N2.70 billion) expanding its ATM network to shore up its access to the South African banking public, said Yatin Narsai, head of mainstream banking.
It plans to roll out additional 750 ATMs by June next year to bring its total number of ATMs to 3,900.
FNB is also planning to increase its penetration into the under-serviced areas such as rural areas. It had already deployed 10 mobile banks on a pilot basis for the purpose.
South Africa’s biggest retail bank, Absa, also plans to spend R400 million (N7.19 billion) over the next three years rolling out 1,000 off-premises ATMs, which would raise its total ATM deployment to 8,000, well above the combined capacity of Nigeria’s 25 banks.
Venete Klein, executive director of Absa said the bank has entered into a joint venture with technology company Bytes to increase the number of Absa’s ATMs by between 10 and 12 percent yearly over the next three years.
Source: Business Day
