VOC AT ATM LOCATIONS

A recent observation of happenings at ATM locations revealed that customers are left alone to troubleshoot. There seems to be no form of assistance or guidance and yet our banks continue to talk about service delivery. In some instances, reports have it that security men at the banks now use this opportunity to beg and cajole customers for money. One customer complained about a certain bank and promised never to use their ATMs again because of the constant embarrassments from the security staff. This and many more reports have shown that financial institutions are not doing enough to retain the loyalty of their customers. There is need for immediate improvement for anyone that prides itself as a customer centric institution. 

How many times banks observe customer feedbacks at their ATM locations matters. It is as if the business managers do not know that neglecting the sole responsibility of service delivery to machines alone will jeopardize a relationship that took a long time to build. Consider a case where the machine is always faulty and your customer has to use other bank’s ATMs consistently. He is only being tolda to move his business to another bank that can meet his demands. There is no way excellent service can be neglected to a non-human device without appropriate monitoring in place. Machines do not have emotions; hence they cannot interpret how customers feel or what they want. This sheer neglect of invaluable customers can be likened to a careless disposal of patronage. If loyal customers are lost consistently, how will the business meet its financial targets? On several occasions, customers complain that the quality of financial services is declining. Of course, this is very obvious. The most annoying part of the situation is that bankers continue to pretend as if all is well. Will they wait for the total collapse of the system before making amends? 

There should be arrangements in place to know the customers’ plight at the ATM locations. This is a way to avoid the delivery of bad service. Well agreed that the advent of ATMs is a good one and that it had improved how business can be done. Total dependent on these technology only makes financial institutions look as if they careless about their customer experiences. 

Aside from the fact that automated teller machines are no longer dependable or reliable in the country, not all customers are technology savvy to get the best service they were promised at the ATM locations. To enhance such possibilities, banks must strategically plan to constructively shape the experience of all the classes of customers patronizing their e-channels. There should be some form of assistance promptly available at every machine location to help a bewildered customer. Such assistance also goes a long way to promptly report any system downtime at the machines while monitoring other reasons for urgent contingent attention. This had been observed to be absent in virtually all ATM locations in Nigeria. Instead, banks rely on the effort of security men to double as protection providers as well as ATM supervisors. This will not work, they are different constituencies entirely. Every bank should have a versed employee who knows how to handle situations at the ATM locations and would be professional enough not to scare customers away with requests for gratification. 

Conclusively, the CBN governor’s interest at making Nigeria a cashless society is a good one, but there is need for all hands to be on deck so that customers will not continue to suffer because they want to use ATMs. Financial institutions should remember that change is a daily occurrence. This is just to say that the customers whom you see today may not be there for you tomorrow. If that be the case, how will continue to exist profitably? All these things should be well considered to reshape customer’s perception. One thing is certain, only organizations that care for their customers would retain them.