Excess charges: 6,488 PoS merchants dump patronage

 

There are indications that a total number of 6,488 Point of Sales (PoS) merchants in the country have stopped using the terminal as a result of the excess charges imposed by the regulatory body.

It will be noted that there was a total number of declined from 142,814 in June 2016 to 136,324 as at the end of last November.

However, of this figure, only 117,080 PoS terminals have been deployed, according to latest data obtained from the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc.

Our Correspondent speaking with one of the merchants, Mrs Juliet, the Managing Director of Blazon International limited, a dealer in computers and accessories in Ikeja, she said the reason she has stoped using the PoS in her office was because of the excess charges by the regulatory body.

“I must say this , what the Central Bank of Nigerian (CBN) is doing is not good. I have come to realize that when you try to use the terminal, the buyer of the goods will be charged with certain amount of money and likewise me the seller of the product will also be charged, this is not good!”.

She therefore said that she has therefore been telling her customers to either transact business with her on money transfer or they pay in cash.

Following this, Chief Executive Officer, Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN), Mrs. Regha Onajite, who reacted to the development on phone, said there was a need for merchants to be encouraged towards registering and deploying more PoS terminals in order for the country to achieve a truly cashless economy.

According to the details of the report, as at June last year, the country recorded its highest PoS terminals of 142,81.

However, in the following months through November, there was gradual decline in the number of registered PoS terminals.

According to the report, in July, August, September, October and November, registered PoS terminals by merchants stood at 141,474; 141,267; 140,281; 136,597 and 136,324 respectively.

Meanwhile, the number of deployed PoS terminals also varied in the months from June to November last year.

In June, the report says, the total number of deployed PoS terminals stood at 121,388; 121,795 in July while in August, it stood at 121,758. Accordingly, the number of deployed PoS terminals was 119,100 and 117, 080 in October and November respectively.

Meanwhile, the value of PoS transaction hit an all-time high of N81 billion in November last year. Already, analysts say the figure suggested that more Nigerians continue to have increased confidence in the cashless policy,which brings flexibility and confidence to banking public, especially when making purchases.

According to the details of the 2016 PoS transaction, transactions values stood at N46.65 billion, N46.14 billion, N51.96 billion and N53.28 billion in January, February, March and April, last year.

In May, the monthly PoS transaction figures rose to N55.136 billion; N55.292 billion June and by the end of July, the figure was N59.397 billion.

At the end of August, which is the latest data in the country, the value of PoS transaction stood at N64.106 billion.

In September, October and November, PoS values were N66.44 billion; N71.81 billion and N81.15 billion respectively.

The November transaction values were carried out on some 117,080 deployed terminals across the country, though 136,324 PoS terminals have been registered by various Payment Terminal Service providers (PSPS).

Though the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had set a 350,000 PoS deployment target for the country, only 136,324 PoS terminals had been deployed by various Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs) licensed. Yet, only 117,080 are deployed.

PTSPs are the companies licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to deploy PoS terminals for merchants on behalf of the banks.

The idea of PTSP was conceived to allow the banks focus on their core banking services without bothering themselves with the deployment of PoS for merchants.