Withdrawals through Automated Teller Machines (ATM) in the country rose to N36.34 trillion between January and June 2025.
This indicates a significant increase of 197.66% from the N12.21 trillion recorded in the same period of 2024.
The increase comes after a review of ATM fees by the Central Bank of |Nigeria (CBN) in February 2024.
Under the revised fees, customers using another bank’s ATM pay N100 per N20,000 withdrawn, with additional surcharges of up to N500 per N20,000 on off-site ATMs.
Data from the CBN’s latest quarterly statistical bulletin show that the value of ATM withdrawals nearly tripled year on year, showing the resilience of cash usage even as regulators moved to make cash access more expensive.
According to the data, 858.80 million ATM withdrawals were made in the first half of 2025, up from 496.47 million in the corresponding period of 2024.
The increase of 362.34 million transactions represents a growth of 72.98 per cent. This means that the higher charges did not affect transactions.
Quarterly figures show that ATM usage rose sharply in 2025. In the first quarter, withdrawals totalled N15.97 trillion, compared with N5.46 trillion in the first quarter of 2024. This represents an increase of N10.52 trillion, or about 192.9 per cent. Transaction volumes rose from 210.66 million to 411.42 million, reflecting a growth of roughly 95.3 per cent.
Between April and June 2025, Nigerians withdrew N20.36 trillion from ATMs, more than three times the N6.75 trillion recorded in the same period of 2024.
The increase of N13.61 trillion translates to a growth of about 201.7 per cent. Volumes also rose from 285.81 million transactions to 447.39 million, an increase of 56.5 per cent.
ATM usage also rose consistently throughout the six months. In January 2025, withdrawals stood at N4.81 trillion, compared with N2.15 trillion in January 2024, while transaction volumes more than doubled from 69.62 million to 147.24 million.
February withdrawals rose to N5.40 trillion from N1.72 trillion a year earlier, with volumes increasing to 134.59 million. March recorded N5.76tn in withdrawals, up from N1.60 trillion in March 2024, alongside 129.59 million transactions.
The upward trend continued in the second quarter. April withdrawals rose to N6.38 trillion from N1.81 trillion a year earlier. May recorded the highest monthly value at N7.44 trillion, compared with N2.49 trillion in May 2024, while June eased slightly to N6.55 trillion but still far exceeded the N2.45 trillion recorded in June last year.
Meanwhile, point-of-sale (PoS) transactions, continued to increase with values increasing from N85.91 trillion in the first half of 2024 to N147.20 trillion in the first half of 2025, while volumes rose from 6.40 billion to 7.72 billion transactions.
