It just occurred to me how many Nigerians go through hardships in queues just to withdraw cash..... Can we develop an app that can help reduce queues and also track, in real time, which ATMs are not working? Any ideas on how to implement this

Thanks.

oya

foreach ( var queue in Atm)
{
queue-- ;
}


compiles in any language

The ATM apart from all other advantages, is intended to reduce queue in the banking hall...just like every other things that seem not to work in Nigeria, though other countries are enjoying the benefits of the ATM, ATM in Nigeria are old and most advanced countries in the world don't you use that sort of model any longer.

You cannot build an APP for everything, especially not the ATM, a high percentage of people who use the ATM, use it in order to withdraw money, few, do transfer, some to pay bills, which ever reasons, requires an individual to use their cards physically on the machine.

Their are so many things to consider as the cause of queues at ATMs location:

1. Most ATMs don't work at all: I mean the hardware is totally faulty, therefore the only available one will be shared among the waiting customers.

2. No Network issue: I will always say that internetwork is still not stable and costly in Nigeria, compared to some other countries: Imagine 5 ATMs with no network issue.

3. Technology Know-How: what about the knowledge of the use of the ATM, some people just take too much time on the machine just because they lack the operational knowledge of the ATM.

4. Old ATM with low hardware specifications: because the bank is new, outwardly decorated, with ATM that seems new with all the plastic coverings, does not make the ATM "NEW". Most of these machines don't process fast enough

5. Bank management fault: Most of these banks, employ just anyone who isn't supposed to be working in a bank, some of them will do well in other fields. Some people are generally slow and this affects the response people get in the banking hall..so most people want to use the ATM.

You see my friend, there are enough banking Apps and for the use of ATM, I don't see the need for an App that will reduce queue and I don't really see where it is applicable.

I'm sure you are thinking of how you can pre-process withdrawals before your turn, right while you are on the queue? Well I think it isn't possible because of the security in place.

On a lst thought though, your app will work with geo location to pin point ATM location, process your withdrawal via your phone, with all security measures in place and instead of interracting directly with the ATM, you finalise the process on your phone and whoooooooz, your money is out!

alcuin,

The best way to solve this problem has to be creating an app that tells users if there is a queue at an ATM stand or not.

The most efficient way to develop such an app will be to work with banks. If they can create an API that can provide you with the frequency of withdrawals per hour or per half-hour then you can deduce if there is a queue or not. ATMs with a queue will most likely have about 8 withdrawals from different customers per half-hour.

Another way is to crowdsource it. First of all tag the different ATM locations, then create an app that logs a user's location when he/she is at a certain distance from the tagged ATM location and remove the user when the user leaves the ATM zone. If there are lots of users within a tagged location, then there must be a queue.
or the user might be inside the banking hall, though in some cases GPS does not work inside enclosed spaces like a building. This makes the solution flawed and there is also the issue of privacy...

Good one but ive thought of your opinion above...imagine an ATM located at a busy location with 20% of people - shop owners, those in the car held up, those in banking hall, residents in that area, etc having the app installed on their phone, the analysis will be flawed by those who permanently for some reasons are stationed near that particular ATM.

Also, if even one have the app installed and there is no data and one is actually at an ATM location, the App will not count me as one of the crowds..so imagine those who might be offline at intervals.

Good suggestions.

I think crowdsourcing is the the best for this kind of problem. Users should be able to state the status of ATMs. Based on this information the app determines whether the ATM has queue or not. So the more active users of the app in a location, the more accurate the app becomes.

Talking about banks APIs, will banks easily give the to programmers?

Thanks.

alcuin:
Good suggestions.

I think crowdsourcing is the the best for this kind of problem. Users should be able to state the status of ATMs. Based on this information the app determines whether the ATM has queue or not. So the more active users of the app in a location, the more accurate the app becomes.

Talking about banks APIs, will banks easily give the to programmers?

Thanks.

CAPITAL NO banks are profit driven that's extra code for little or no returns.

Also most banks don't manage their ATM it's handled by another company. Infact the banks don't even know the technology used in the ATM machine. And your ideas requires getting all banks to create an Api for a machine they don't program.

follow the crowdsourcing steps and get Agents in each ATM location , they will be one updating the knowlegde-base of the app

alcuin:
It just occurred to me how many Nigerians go through hardships in queues just to withdraw cash..... Can we develop an app that can help reduce queues and also track, in real time, which ATMs are not working? Any ideas on how to implement this

Thanks.

A simple agency banking will have solve the problem of the queues at the ATMs and it is so unfortunate that the bank is not thinking in that direction and the TSA saga is not helping matter at all.
https://www./financial-inclusion-nigeria-challenges-banks-mobile-money-adesanya?trk=pulse_spock-articles

This is good idea which i have never thought about till now.

Things that the app/website will need is very simple.

1. Get data from each atm if it is working, there will be a param that will be queried in that function that will conform to the working state of the atm.

2. Display the data on a mobile app or as a SMS text, per location.

3. You will need data of all locations of atm in nigeria or to start with that of lagos or abuja.

4. (*Optional)SMS delivery and USSD code supported by all Network carriers will be needed to make the service available to non-smartphone users

I'm personally interested in something like this, can anyone join me in this?

A very nice idea have been working on too, just as codeHouse said, they are many challenges poised with the need of an App to solve this, like the hardware issues that most ATM's have.
Also the App telling users if there is queue at a particular ATM point still might not be effective enough, considering the case where you only have one ATM nearby.

Now why would one necessary need to go to the ATM??
The major reason I would expect is to withdraw cash, as other operations can be done using your mobile phone
either your phone is internet enabled or not with the NIBSS ISO transaction method, so if there is this long queue,am standing there with my phone, and am still there waiting then that just as a result of my ignorance

Now how do we reduce a long queue of people wo want to withdraw from a single ATM??
My opinion here would be to Assist the ATM in its task, by taking the card reading,transaction details entry process unto the user to enter through a App, and then each done successfully places a queue number in the ATM (Atm to be used based on location would have been selected by user) so all the users does is to enter his queue number (a module on the ATM would allow this) that is tied to details of user's transaction and so the ATM pays instantly.
so while waiting in the queue, u are already entering details of your transaction, hereby relieving the ATM of time used in doing all the validation, or verification. Good enough this would help to filter some people who would have issues with their account has already from the App there are notified reasons why they wouldn't be able to do the transaction

I have been thinking about this for a while..I have several ideas but I have not started testing them

Nice idea, but it may not provide much value, because the next better option may require extra cost for the user to get to. e.g extra transport fare, so the user may chose to chill at the crowded atm until it's their turn.
It would be simply better if people could simply use their phones to make money transactions, no need to a)-> go to atm b)-> withdraw cash c)-> take cash to seller . buy item, hand cash over .
The system is simply archaic and inefficient. Too much precious time is spent getting and taking physical money to sellers!
But that's technology for the future.