10 Types of People You’ll Meet at ATMs in Nigeria

atm in nigeriaEach queue you see at the ATM is a fine blend of different types of people and personalities. If you use ATMs very often, you sure would have met all the following categories of people.

1. The fast users

These are the types of people you always pray to meet at the ATM. They get to the machine, press the necessary buttons, make their withdrawal within 2 minutes, and their off. When such people leave the machine, everyone on the queue gives them a “thumbs up” — inwardly, at least.

2. The over-careful users

They don’t have much to do at the ATM, but they try to be overly careful. You’ll see them carefully reading the screen before pressing each button. They’re trying not to make mistakes, but they could be very annoying.

3. The “CBN looters”

These ones have come to withdraw huge amounts — N300k, N250k, etc. — at the ATM. They’ll keep other people waiting for several minutes. Each time they retrieve cash from the machine, you’ll think that’s the last time. But no, they’ll continue until you give up on them. Then you’ll start praying inwardly that they don’t drain all the cash left in the machine.

4. The balance checkers

All they have come to do at the ATM is to verify how much they have left in their account. We all like them because they don’t waste our time.

5. The learners

These are the most annoying people you’ll meet at the ATM. They have come with someone to learn how to use the ATM machine, regardless of how long the queue is (imagine!). You’ll see some spending up to one hour or even more, learning how to use the ATM. I do wonder why such people don’t come at times when there’s nobody or only few people waiting to use the machine.

6. The confused ones

Or let’s call them the inexperienced users. They’re yet to get familiar with the ATM. You’ll see them trying to use the machine on their own at first (feigning confidence). They’ll keep struggling with the machine until people on the queue start grumbling. Only at that point will they call someone to help them out — what they should have done earlier.

7. The doubting Thomases

Another annoying set of people. They check their balance before withdrawal, count the cash after withdrawal, and still check their balance after withdrawal. You’ll then start wondering what happened to basic math.

8. The stubborn ones

These ones will keep slotting in their ATM cards even after the machine tells them “Issuer or switch inoperative” or something else that implies they cannot withdraw. Some keep trying for up to 10 times. They never give up until they’re shouted at.

9. The beggars

When these ones get to the machine and see the long queue, they approach those in the front and start begging to be allowed to use the machine, citing various excuses.

10. The lurkers

These ones could be very annoying, too. You won’t see them on the queue until when it’s almost your turn to use the machine. That’s when you’ll see them flying in from nowhere and taking their positions in front of you, claiming they were there before. When they get back to the queue, you’ll be pushed 7 places backwards, and that’s what makes them annoying.

Which of these people do you find most annoying? Have you met other types of people at ATMs that are not on this list? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

11 thoughts on “10 Types of People You’ll Meet at ATMs in Nigeria”

  1. There’s a brand new category now, they’ll come to you either with cash or with there smart phone and beg you to either make a transfer for them and they’ll give you the cash or you give them cash and they’ll transfer to your account. Some are honest while some are just fraudsters, either way they are all annoying.

  2. Nice post.There are only two or so categories not captured though.
    1. The Smart swindlers
    They come armed with an ATM card and tell you, with a tone of desperation, how their card refused to work or how a certain transfer they were expecting, did not drop in their account and now they’re stranded. Seeing you’ve just withdrawn 20k or more, how will you feel not helping such a person(usually fairly well dressed) with just N500?
    2.The boldface beggars
    They lurk around the ATM and saunter in from nowhere after you’ve finished withdrawing money. They tell u a well rehearsed, condensed story that contains all the necessary ingredients that propel pity and sympathy, all in a few seconds!They’re not the dirty,ugly looking beggars;they’re close to what you can introduce as friends, especially those of the opposite sex.
    Before the deep-thinking department of your head goes into action, you’ve parted with a minimum of N1k. And that is if you’re very broke!

  3. pple who are there to extort, they try using a fake card n then go n wait at the gate for pple who withdraw. They then beg frm them with the excuse that the atm refused to pay them.

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