The shortage of automated teller machines (ATMs) in the city of Lichinga, in Niassa, Mozambique, is worrying citizens, given the crowds that could lead to new infections by Covid-19, in addition to the inconvenience resulting from long queues.
For this reason, they ask commercial banks to reinforce this equipment in order to make people's lives easier.
Valéria Caúde said that managers of commercial banks operating in the city of Lichinga should be concerned with disease prevention, in particular Covid-19, as well as the need to serve customers well.
The solution to this end, he defended, involves increasing the number of ATMs, especially in the outskirts of the city.
The city of Lichinga has recently experienced accelerated demographic growth, a situation that, according to Domingos Sabite, demands an increase in financial services, particularly ATMs for quick payments. He regretted the fact that the commercial banks represented in Lichinga did not keep up with the increase in demand for services.
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He added that the poor quality of service provided by commercial banks is notable when paying the salaries of employees and agents of the State and pensioners, from the 15th of each month, a period in which there are long queues at ATMs.
António Liquela said that the city of Lichinga currently has around 16 ATMs, most of which are located on the perimeter of the cement city, to serve an estimated population of 240 inhabitants.
He asked those entitled to sensitize commercial banks to install more ATMs in the most populous neighbourhoods, namely Namacula, Chiuala and Nomba, as residents there would have no reason to travel to the center of the city for withdrawals, transfers or payments.
The increase in the number of ATMs in Lichinga is urgent, according to Niquice Ngozi, justifying that the few existing ATMs are out of service for a long period, for various reasons, namely fluctuations in the supply of electricity and poor signal quality from the operator that provides the communications service.
