Africa-Press – Angola. The city of Benguela gained, this Wednesday, the first Automatic Teller Machine Terminal Center (ATM) from Banco Comércio e Indústria (BCI), aiming to increase the offer of banking services to the population and reduce flooding at ATMs.
With five ATMs available 24/24 hours, the ATM Center BCI was inaugurated inside the Kalunga fuel station, by the director of the Office for Integrated Economic Development in Benguela, Samuel Maleze, in the presence of the South regional director of BCI, Edmundo Lelis.
The BCI ATM Center, with permanent security, offers customers various services, such as cash withdrawals, balance checks, prepaid mobile phone top-ups, payment for services such as Internet access subscriptions, TV packages and bank transfers.
Speaking on the occasion, the South regional director of BCI, Edmundo Lelis, announced, for this year, the entry into operation of two more ATM Centers in the province of Benguela, namely in Lobito and another that is planned for Catumbela.
He made it known that, at the request of the Government of Benguela, BCI will try to restructure the expansion program for its automatic payment terminal parks in favor of communities further away from the center of coastal cities.
However, the BCI South regional director thanked Sonangol for the partnership that allowed the installation of the BCI ATM Center at the Kalunga gas station, the first of several planned for Benguela.
According to Edmundo Lelis, as part of its expansion program, BCI intends to be a market leader in terms of automatic payment terminals, commonly known as ATMs (multicaixa), in order to relieve pressure on service at branch level.
Because, he pointed out, the strong demand for services at branches ends up creating inconvenience for customers and the general public, hence the opening of this containerized ATM Center, made up of five machines in the city of Benguela.
“We intend to bring services closer to the population and ensure that the bank is more present in the periphery”, he assumed.
Regarding users’ complaints about the lack of money in many ATMs, Edmundo Lelis reassured customers and assured that everything was taken care of in terms of maintenance and availability of banknotes for BCI’s multi-bank machines.
Representing the provincial governor of Benguela, the director of the Office for Integrated Economic Development in Benguela, Samuel Maleze, expressed satisfaction at the opening of the first BCI ATM Terminal Center to citizens.
Samuel Maleze considers the expansion of banking services to be an added value, as they experience huge demand from families on a daily basis, taking into account the great challenge of financial inclusion.
Founded in 1991, Banco Comércio e Indústria was under the management of the Angolan State until 2022, when it was sold to Grupo Carrinho, within the framework of the Privatization Program (PROPRIV).
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