Benin residents decry waste of man-hour in banks, ATMs over scarcity of new naira notes

Residents of Benin, Edo State have decried the man-hours spent queuing in banks and with Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in their bid to access both the new and old naira notes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Google defines man-hour as an hour regarded in terms of the amount of work that can be done by one person within this period.

Some of the residents, who spoke to NAN on Monday in Benin, said that they now spend between eight and 12 hours in banking halls and ATM queues at the detriment of their businesses.

They decried the poor functionality of the mobile and Internet banking services, lamenting that the cashless policy was frustrating being the major cause of the long queues witnessed in banks and ATM.

A petty trader, Mrs Obehi Ofure, said: “we now spend more time in banks and ATM queues than we spend in our different businesses.

“Some persons come to queue up at the ATM as early as 2:00 a.m. so they can be among the first persons to access cash.

“I came to this First Bank ATM before 6:00 a.m , yet, I picked 135 as my number on the queue. I was surprise because I met a lot of persons both old and young already on the queue.

“The time is now almost 12: 30 p.m. and it has not gotten to my turn, the number being attended to now is 75; this is so painful.”

Mr Timothy Omage, an artisan, told NAN that he was at the queue inside the banking hall to withdraw little cash he would use for daily transportation.

“I need cash for intra city transport fare, you cannot transfer N100 or N200 to a Keke rider.

“The banks should increase the amount of N50 and N100 notes being issued over the counter to customers,” he said.

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