BANK of Jamaica (BOJ) says it has received a recommendation from at least one deposit-taking institution (DTI) that, if enacted, will result in automated banking machines (ABMs) being deployed to areas of the country that are presently underserved.

Central bank Governor Richard Byles, who said he had asked the DTI for its recommendations, made the disclosure Tuesday during an appearance before the Parliament’s Economy and Production Committee.

He shared that, based on the proposal, it would cost approximately $12 million to set up each ABM, including the machine and vestibule. Additionally, each ABM would cost between $10 million and $12 million annually to maintain — a cost that is undertaken by the DTI. Byles explained that the fees which accrue from the use of the machines will help to defray that cost.

“To the extent that the Government can establish the sites and the location, and develop the vestibule, and purchase the ATMs through the banking industry, we can have these machines set up in areas that are not currently now served by the network,” Byles told the committee.

“I think it’s a reasonable proposal — subject to fine-tuning — and which would offer the opportunity to spread the network much more rapidly, and to underserved areas, as soon as we can get the project underway,” he added.

Under the proposal the Government would provide a secure location, for example at or near a police station, that already has power and telecoms connections.

When BOJ last appeared before the committee in July last year, Members of Parliament (MPs) representing rural communities lamented that their constituents were forced to travel miles to access the limited number of ABMs in their communities. At that time Byles told MPs that they were best positioned to help identify locations, such as police stations, where ABMs could be sited.

Asked by committee Chairman Dwight Sibbles when the initiative would be rolled out, Byles said, “The first step in the process is for the locations to be identified — and that, I believe, is for your side [parliamentarians] than for the DTIs”.

He said that since the suggestion was made last year he has been under the impression that Parliament would accept that responsibility and identify the locations.

“For our part, we were to speak to the DTIs and get them to come up with a plan — and that’s what we brought here today,” Byles said while noting that BOJ is willing to work with parliamentarians to identify the locations.

Committee member Fitz Jackson said he was of the impression that the DTIs see the installation of the ABMs as a service they are selling to their customers, rather than a service of the bank from which their customers can be beneficiaries. This, he said, was despite the fact that banks, like any other business, operate to make a profit.

In relation to the locations, Jackson said he was of the view that BOJ and the banks, as service-oriented business people, would have done their own surveys and determined where across the country there are deficiencies in the availability of machines.

“It’s not for a Member of Parliament to go survey and find out how many are needed… and make a submission to the BOJ,” he stated.

“If there is an intrinsic disposition to enhance service and access then the onus must not be on Members of Parliament and councillors and some other stakeholders. Those who’re involved in the business, that’s where the public-private collaboration serves the public interest,” Jackson said.

“I’m a little bit disturbed by that approach; it seems like it’s a favour being granted. And that’s the reason why banks can close their branches willy-nilly, at any location, because we’re captive — we have to come to you wherever you are so you don’t have to really make it too convenient for us. If we’re inconvenienced to get the service, it’s our problem,” Jackson added.

Responding, Byles said “For better or for worse what we have is a private sector-owned, -run, -operated banking network. For better or for worse that is what we have, and the bottom line is: They want to make a profit for their shareholders.”

He pointed out that the Parliament has not given BOJ the power to do more than what it was doing “which is to say we want you to uplift the quality of the service you’re giving through your current ATMs”.

“Secondly, we’ve gone to them with a proposal to say, ‘Even if there are areas in which it doesn’t make economic sense, can you hold hands with Government and find a way to put an ATM?’ And that is what we’re doing here. We’re trying to make the best of the situation that exists.”