Gabriel Efo
The introduction of Point of Sale (PoS) by Central Bank of Nigeria has eased off the hardships usually encountered by many customers of commercial banks in the rural and urban areas of Akwa Ibom State, Straightnews has gathered.
CBN introduced the use of PoS machines to make financial transactions in Nigeria in 2012 to promote its cashless policy with the aim of improving payment system.
The PoS business offers services like funds transfer and withdrawal, airtime sales, bill payments like GOTV, DSTV, Startimes, PHCN, and other utility bills. The POS machine is also used in places where goods and services are sold/rendered; places like retail shops, offices, supermarkets, fuel/gas stations, pharmacies, eateries, etc.
Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) shows that about 307,000 PoS machines were in circulation across the country as of March 2021 with 167,000 reported active.
However, there are more than 5,000 active PoS machines in circulation in Akwa Ibom, our reporter found out.
Our reporter observed that the competition between POS and commercial banks is stiff in that the banks are lacking in different local government headquarters to business-oriented communities in the state. Therefore, POS centres spread everywhere even where commercial banks are not established are preference to many customers.
A few years ago, it was difficult to find an outlet to either withdraw or transfer funds was not an easy task, but today, PoS stands are in every street and corners of the city. Some are even barely a meter apart.
However, considering the competition among operators of the business, risk of handling bulk cash in the open and tendencies of fraud, one wonders if the avalanche of businesses in the city is a blessing or a curse.
Operators, customers and bankers who spoke with Straighnews on the matter, shared their views.
‘The competition is not healthy’- Operators
One Blessing Raphael, an operator who owns a stand on Aka road, described the competition in the business as unhealthy. She regretted that most operators, in a bid to have more customers, slash down transaction charges to the detriment of others in the business.
To regulate this, Blessing said operators needed to form a union where members will agree on their charges and adhere strictly to it.
“We don’t have a union yet but I heard that some people are working on that. We really need to form a union so that we will all agree on our charges and anybody that fails to abide will be punished.
“For instance, there was a time we used to charge up to N200 for a transaction of N10,000, but these new people came in and started charging N100 just because they are desperate for customers. We had to join them because if we don’t, nobody will leave where they can be charge less to where they’ll be charged more,” she said.
On the lucrativeness of the business, Blessing, who has been operating a PoS terminal for over a year now, said “the business is profitable depending on your location. If you are in a busy location, it means that you are open to many people who would want to either withdraw or deposit cash in your place. If you are not in a busy area, you may struggle through the business.”
Another operator, Ekaete Essiet, who also complained of the influx of newbies into the business, said that she used to make as much as N5,000 in a day when she started over a year ago, but can only struggle to make between N2,000 and N3,000 now.
Ekaete, who owns an outlet on Ikot Ekpene Road, Uyo, said that another challenge of the business is the risk of being defrauded by fraudsters or being robbed.
Recounting an ordeal, she said “there was a day I realised I had a shortage of N15,000 after doing my account. Some fraudsters must have tampered with my account. I called the bank but they couldn’t help. That was not the first time that happened.”
She also clamored for an establishment of a union, backed by the law, to regulate activities of operators in Uyo.
Ekaete who is a graduate, said that upon her return from the compulsory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), she ventured into the business.
“I already knew there were no ready jobs in the country so I had already planned what to do while I was serving. I saved my NYSC allowance, which is what I used to start the business immediately I returned,” she said.
Customers differ in views
A customer, Aniebiet Dominic, who noted that she has not had a cause to go to the bank since she started using the services of the PoS terminals, said that she prefers the outlets to the banking hall because of the easy access to cash.
She said transaction at a PoS outlet is more convenient and fast, compared to that at the banking hall where one has to wait in long queues for hours.
According to her “what will I go to do inside the bank now when I can walk to a PoS point and either make a transfer or withdraw cash? I can’t even remember when last I made use of the ATM. Even if I want to do a transaction that involves large sum, I can still do that at the PoS.”
Another customer, Etido Clement, a student of University of Uyo, mentioned high charges, insecurity, fraud via e-banking and issues of debiting without crediting customers as some of the reasons he prefers the banking hall to the PoS terminal.
Clement said “I only make use of the PoS terminal when I need to hurriedly do a transaction in an area where there’s no bank close by. I don’t find it really reliable because I was once a victim of its inefficiency.
Recalling a bitter experience, he said “there was this day I wanted to make a withdrawal at a PoS point. After the process, they showed ‘transaction declined’ but I was debited. That was supposed to be my pocket money in school. I was asked to go to my bank to complain. I did and they told me to return in 21 working days. I went and they told another story until I finally gave up on the money. It is really frustrating.”
Bankers’ views on Pos operations
Mr. Pascal Archibong, a banker in one of the branches of a new generation bank in Uyo, while refuting the presumption that PoS business is a threat to the operation of conventional banks, said that the business are, in fact, an extension of the banks.
Archibong stated that some financial institutions had even received regulatory approval to close some branches in order to focus on agent banking business and other digital enabled channels.
“The banks are still largely in control of the PoS terminals and are also making profit off the business. Most of the machines you see around are issued and regulated by banks.
“There are still many people who troop in and wait in long queues in the banking hall to make one transaction or the other. The truth is that the efficiency you get in the banking hall cannot be compared to what you get at a PoS terminal,” he said.
For Mr. Edwin Chigozie, the PoS business has given business opportunities to people who can afford to run it and job opportunities to people under their employ.
Chigozie expressed worry over the future of the business considering the influx of people into it.
He said “I can’t say what the future holds for the business, but it worries me that everybody is jumping into it. I foresee a future where the business will lose it’s flavour and people may no longer want to patronise it.”
It has created employment opportunity- former banker, social analyst
To Mr. Etim Etim, a former banker with many years of experience, the proliferation of POS business in the city has created job opportunities for the unemployed.
While applauding the CBN for introducing the system, Etim said that the business has taken banking services close to the people.
On the crowding and competitiveness in the business, Etim said “there is always competition in every business and at the end, the people who are offering value will survive. To survive in a competitive business, you have to create value and you have to be creative.
“For instance, let me tell you this. I had three operators close to me and I used to patronise one. One day I went to withdraw cash and there was network problem and they didn’t pay me. I drove off to the next and the young man didn’t know me before.
There was also network problem but he paid me and said I could pay him back when the network was clear and I could withdraw. Since then, I have been doing business with him. That is creativity.”
The question as to whether the flood of PoS terminals in Uyo is a blessing or curse is neither here nor there. It can be a blessing if properly regulated and it can be a curse if operators are some of the hiccups mentioned above are not checked.
