PosThe recent naira crisis experienced as a result of the redesign of the N200, N500, N1000 notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria has forced many Nigerians into cashless transactions.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Godwin Emefiele, one of the reasons for this decision includes the hoarding of cash by the populace, resulting in the retainership of over 80% of the currency in circulation outside the commercial banks. Also, the negative perception of the CBN owing to the scarcity of clean banknotes.
In addition, the rate of counterfeiting the higher denominations of 500 and 1000 is high because of the sophisticated technology that has been developed overtime. The CBN believes that this naira redesign will help to reduce these to the barest minimum
Internet, mobile banking and Point of Sale transactions which have been in existence became more patronized in the absence of cash.
A recent data released by the Nigeria Inter-Banking Settlement Systems revealed that mobile users in Nigeria did transactions worth N2.37 trillion in January 2023.
According to the NIBSS, this represents a 125 percent increase compared to the volume of transactions recorded in the same period last year.
However, PoS vendors started dispensing cash at 10 percent. As the new deadline drew nearer, the rate increased, causing Nigerians hardship as the system is not yet prepared for the cashless policy the CBN is trying to enforce within a short period of time.
As a result of the recent cash crunch which pushed many Nigerians to the edge, AMBusiness looks at how business owners can acquire PoS devices.
PoS in Nigeria is a software or a device that allows the processing of transaction payment. It keeps record of time-to-time transactions while also providing ease of payment.
With PoS, sellers can track payments made and the frequency with which they were made. Also, the PoS machine allows buyers to make payment with their cards without being in possession of cash.
How can businesses go about getting their own Point of Sale ?
When you are considering getting a PoS machine for your business, the first place to go is your personal bank according to the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc. Meanwhile, a business should have an account which would be linked with the PoS.
The reason businesses should get this machine from their banks is for credibility as they are licensed financial institutions. Also, you can be rest assured that any challenge along the line can be resolved because banks are particular about their customer experience.
However, it is not only commercial banks that can issue PoS, accredited financial institutions can also provide these machines.
Commercial banks have their different processes for issuing the machine. What is common amongst these banks is that intending users are required to fill forms but there are not standard procedures for these processes.
Importantly, you should have a business account, business emails and phone numbers. After this, depending on your bank, a particular time period ranging from 48 hours to two weeks would be given for the processing of the machine.
Meanwhile, to acquire a PoS machine, you may have to pay an initial cost which ranges from N85,000 to N100,000. However, most commercial banks do not receive any amount to issue a PoS to their customers.
