AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE (ATM) AS A TOOL FOR EFFICIENT BANKING SERVICE DELIVERY IN JIMETA YOLA, ADAMAWA STATE

Abstract

Over the years, there have been allegations from several stakeholders
on the inefficiency of banking services such a long queue in the banking
halls, delays in cashing money and the long queues in Automated Teller
Machine (ATM) dispensing points. The paper therefore, examines the
importance of ATM as a tool for improving the efficiency of banking
services. This was done by itemizing some of the causes of inefficiency
in banking services in order to determine the importance of ATM in
improving banking services. The study employed the use of survey
method where questionnaire and interview were used. One hundred
and forty-two users of ATM from two banks were purposively selected
for the study in Jimeta Metropolis, Yola Adamawa state. The data was
analyzed by the aid of descriptive statistics. The findings show that,
ATM has significantly improved the efficiency of banking services by
decongesting banks, reducing delays, time saving and accessibility of
banking services to customers almost 24 hours. Similarly, it has been
revealed that the causes of banking inefficiency are: insecurity, lack of
adequate ATM, service unavailability and single server have been the
contributing factors to queues and congestion in the banks. It further
revealed that majority of ATM subscribers have a good knowledge on
the services offered by ATM. The study concludes that ATM has
positively influenced service delivery of deposit money banks in Jimeta,
Adamawa State. The study recommends that banks should have more
ATM dispensing points, improve their services and also to establish
more branches within the state to reduce the time spend by customers.