The central bank presented this Friday, in Luanda, the Expansion Programme for the ATM Network (CA), which aims to increase the population's access to financial services, reduce the asymmetries in the geographical location of these facilities, as well as reduce dependence on physical branches.
According to the director of the BNA's Payment Systems department, Cristina Caniço, each device holds between 10 million and 12 million kwanzas.
In his speech, the governor of the BNA, Tiago Dias, said that citizens' preference for liquidity is due to the informal context of the economy, the asymmetry in the distribution of ATMs, as well as the concentration of salary payments at the end of the month, factors that contribute to the agglomeration of bank consumers at these terminals.
Tiago Dias said that data from Emis, the company that manages the Multicaixa network, indicate that 448 billion kwanzas were withdrawn from ATMs last month.
“Bank transfers in the same period amounted to 607 billion kwanzas and payments for various services amounted to 82 billion kwanzas, while the value of payments to the State, through the RUPE [Single Reference for Payment to the State], was around 40 billion kwanzas”, said Tiago Dias.
The governor of the central bank stressed that data from the BNA indicate that the amount of notes and coins in circulation in the country, on 30 May 2025, corresponded to 871 billion kwanzas, of which around 650 billion kwanzas correspond to notes held by the public and 221 billion kwanzas correspond to cash in commercial banks.
“Our medium and long-term vision is that, following the example of several African countries, alternative payment instruments to physical money, namely electronic transfers, payment cards and mobile payments, will be widely accepted and used by the population”, he stressed.
In the meantime, Tiago Dias added, conditions must continue to be created for access to and use of financial instruments and products, which in the current context of the payment system are the most sought after and used by the population.
The BNA conducted a pilot program, between 2023 and 2024, to expand the ATM network in the municipality of Viana, which culminated in the installation of 69 terminals in different areas of that region.
The program, which will last ten months, with a deadline for the installation of the equipment by February 2026, has the support of seven commercial banks.
