In a bid to boost customer service and meet the increasing local demand for modern banking services, Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) – the country’s largest bank by branch network – has said that it will install 27 Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) at its major branches around the country by the end of the year.

The Bank’s CEO, Ben Kalman, said that the 27 ATMs, which are already in stock, will cut the queuing at the bank’s branches that serve more than a million clients. The bank is targeting 400,000 new clients by the end the year.

"We already have 27 ATMs in storage and we shall start installing eight of them in Kigali on June 2 (2010). In July we shall install the rest in all the major branches across the country,” Kalman said in an interview with Business Times.

With each ATM costing $80,000, BPR has spent $2.1m on the acquisition of the machines, Peter Bruggemen, BPR’s Change Manager said.

The investment comes amid public complaints about the inefficiency as well as uneven distribution of ATMs in Rwanda. All ATMs in the country are managed by Simtel, Rwanda’s National Inter-bank network for electronic payment system. Some banks have requested the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) to award them licenses to mage their own ATMs.   

"The government through the National Bank of Rwanda is making possible moves discussing the way forward in rectifying all irregularities that were affecting ATM usage in the country,” said Kalman.

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