Nigerians withdrew a complete of N36.34 trillion by way of automated teller machines between January and June 2025, a pointy rise of 197.66% from the N12.21tn recorded in the identical interval of 2024.
This surge occurred regardless of new withdrawal charges launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Knowledge from the CBN’s newest quarterly statistical bulletin present that the worth of ATM withdrawals practically tripled 12 months on 12 months, exhibiting the resilience of money utilization whilst regulators moved to make money entry costlier.
What does the info present
Transaction volumes adopted the identical sample. Nigerians carried out 858.80 million ATM withdrawals within the first half of 2025, up from 496.47 million within the corresponding interval of 2024.
The rise of 362.34 million transactions represents a progress of 72.98%, indicating that increased expenses did little to curb demand.
Quarterly figures present that ATM utilization accelerated sharply in 2025. Within the first quarter, withdrawals totalled N15.97tn, in contrast with N5.46tn within the first quarter of 2024. This represents a rise of N10.52tn, or about 192.9%. Transaction volumes rose from 210.66 million to 411.42 million, reflecting a progress of roughly 95.3%.
The momentum strengthened within the second quarter. Between April and June 2025, Nigerians withdrew N20.36tn from ATMs, greater than thrice the N6.75tn recorded in the identical interval of 2024.
The rise of N13.61tn interprets to a progress of about 201.7%. Volumes additionally climbed from 285.81 million transactions to 447.39 million, a rise of 56.5%.
Month-to-month knowledge spotlight how constantly ATM utilization expanded all through the six months. In January 2025, withdrawals stood at N4.81tn, in contrast with N2.15tn in January 2024, whereas transaction volumes greater than doubled from 69.62 million to 147.24 million.
February withdrawals rose to N5.40tn from N1.72tn a 12 months earlier, with volumes growing to 134.59 million. March recorded N5.76tn in withdrawals, up from N1.60tn in March 2024, alongside 129.59 million transactions.
The upward development continued within the second quarter. April withdrawals rose to N6.38tn from N1.81tn a 12 months earlier. Could recorded the very best month-to-month worth at N7.44tn, in contrast with N2.49tn in Could 2024, whereas June eased barely to N6.55tn however nonetheless far exceeded the N2.45tn recorded in June final 12 months.
POS nonetheless leads, however ATM progress outpaces it
The persistence of robust ATM utilization contrasts with the regular growth of point-of-sale transactions, which proceed to dominate in absolute phrases.
POS transaction values elevated from N85.91tn within the first half of 2024 to N147.20tn within the first half of 2025, whereas volumes rose from 6.40 billion to 7.72 billion transactions.
Nevertheless, the tempo of progress in ATM withdrawals far outstripped that of POS channels, highlighting the enduring position of money in each day financial exercise regardless of rising prices and coverage efforts to encourage digital funds.
What it is best to know
This surge got here after the CBN revised its ATM payment regime in February 2025. Underneath the brand new framework, clients utilizing one other bank’s ATM pay N100 per N20,000 withdrawn, with extra surcharges of as much as N500 per N20,000 on off-site ATMs resembling these situated in malls, gas stations, and airports.
- The apex bank additionally eliminated the earlier allowance of three free month-to-month withdrawals at different banks’ ATMs.
- In keeping with the CBN, the assessment was pushed by rising prices and the necessity to enhance effectivity in ATM operations. In its round, the bank stated the adjustments have been anticipated to speed up ATM deployment and guarantee acceptable pricing of the service.
- Nevertheless, as an alternative of discouraging transactions, the newest knowledge present that Nigerians continued to rely closely on ATMs, with each the quantity and worth of withdrawals growing considerably.
The figures counsel that the brand new CBN charges might have altered withdrawal patterns however did little to scale back total reliance on ATMs. For banks, the surge means increased payment revenues from interbank withdrawals, but in addition higher strain on ATM networks and money logistics.
