A sense of unease settled over bank customers in 2023, with a recent survey indicating growth in the number of Jamaicans who expressed fears about their safety while in the financial institutions or using automated teller machines (ATM) on the street.

The trend, highlighted in the Jamaica National Crime Victimisation Survey for 2023, published on Friday, showed that 52.8 per cent of citizens felt unsafe while using an ATM on the street in 2023, an increase from the 43.7 per cent of respondents who felt that way in 2019.

The figures represent an almost 10 percentage point decline in perception of safety among Jamaicans while using an ATM.

The survey was conducted between November 2023 and February 2024. The target population was individuals 16 years and older who are usual residents of Jamaica and living in private dwellings.

Additionally, 31.4 per cent of respondents indicated feeling unsafe in a bank, an increase from the 19.1 per cent of those who felt that way in 2019.

According to the report, “The growth in the unease or the decline in the perception of safety at ATMs may signal the need for targeted interventions, considering recent bank closures in some locations across the island and the push to ATMs for both deposit and withdrawal transactions.”

The National Commercial Bank (NCB), the largest bank in Jamaica, announced the closure of five branches in 2022. The move came two years after the financial institution closed its Half Moon, Annotto Bay, and Chapelton locations.

Additionally, Scotiabank closed two branches across 2020 and 2021 as it transitioned six branches into digital locations, no longer processing cash. Both banks encouraged customers to use the ATM networks instead as they shift towards digital banking and expanding non-contact services.

In 2023 there were a string of robberies that took place at ATMs and banking locations across the island.

Three security guards of Beryllium Limited were hospitalised in serious condition after they were shot during a brazen gunfight with robbers at the Braeton Parkway Scotiabank in Portmore, St Catherine, in March 2023.

Reports at the time were that the security guards were in the process of servicing the ATM at the bank when gunmen attacked.

This was the second of such incidents to occur in Portmore in under a month, with the first occurring at a Jamaica National ATM attached to the bank at Portmore Pines Plaza. That incident left one Beryllium security guard dead and two others injured.

A security guard was also beaten during an attempted robbery at an NCB ATM in Mandeville, Manchester.

Additionally, there was a failed robbery attempt at an ATM in Crofts Hill, Clarendon, in October 2023.

According to a breakdown of the survey findings, perceived safety at ATMs and banks declined for both sexes in 2023, with a greater number of females than males feeling unsafe.

For males, 38.4 per cent felt unsafe while using an ATM in 2019 and that number grew to 42.6 per cent in 2023. As it relates to banks, 16.5 per cent of males felt unsafe at the institutions in 2019. However, that number grew to 25.6 per cent in 2023.

Meanwhile, 48.9 per cent of women felt unsafe using an ATM in 2019 and that number jumped to 61.6 per cent in 2023. Additionally, 21.6 per cent of women felt unsafe in a bank in 2019. This increased to 38.5 per cent in 2023.

While the overall number of individuals who felt unsafe at an ATM grew in 2023 when compared to 2019, the survey found that respondents living in rural areas of Jamaica felt a greater sense of safety while using an ATM than those in urban areas.

The findings showed that 57.2 per cent of rural respondents felt safe while using an ATM on the street in 2023. However, only 45.1 per cent of urban respondents felt safe in the same situation. Both rural and urban respondents saw a decrease in the number of people who felt safe using ATMs.

The results were similar when it came to banks, with rural respondents feeling safer at a bank than urban respondents.

A total of 80.2 per cent of rural respondents said they felt safe in a bank, while only 67 per cent of urban respondents said they felt safe in a bank. However, the number of individuals who felt safe at either locations for both urban and rural areas declined in comparison to 2019.

Police on scene of a brazen gunfight between robbers and Beryllium security officers at Braeton Parkway Scotiabank in Portmore, St Catherine, in March 2023.