Regulatory Determinants and the Strategic Relevance of ATM Enterprise in Nigeria: Evidence from Deposit Money Banks

Abstract

This study examined the influence of ATM withdrawal limit, ATM fee regulation, and regulatory uncertainty on the strategic relevance of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) enterprise in Nigeria. Anchored on Institutional Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), a quantitative cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Data were collected from 317 ATM management personnel across CBN-licensed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria using a structured questionnaire administered via Google Forms and distributed through WhatsApp. Separate Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) bivariate regression models were employed to test three hypotheses. All three regulatory determinants exerted significant negative effects on ATM strategic relevance. Regulatory uncertainty recorded the strongest effect (β = −0.349, p < .001, R² = 0.122, t = −6.617), followed by ATM withdrawal limit (β = −0.343, p < .001, R² = 0.117, t = −6.472), and ATM fee regulation (β = −0.284, p < .001, R² = 0.081, t = −5.261). All three null hypotheses were rejected. The cross-sectional design limits causal inference. Future research should adopt longitudinal designs with objective performance data. The findings call for transparent regulatory communication, cost-reflective ATM fee frameworks, and strategic repositioning of ATM services to sustain their relevance in Nigeria's evolving cashless payment ecosystem. This study is among the first to empirically examine regulatory determinants of ATM strategic relevance in Nigeria using enterprise-level primary data, extending the discourse beyond customer adoption perspectives.