In this piece, CHINECHEREM OBASI writes that though the PoS business creates jobs, there are challenges facing the operators
Introduced in 2012, the Point of Sale service looks to make the Central Bank of Nigeria’s financial inclusion and cashless society become a reality. No doubt, the PoS has sped up purchase with quicker responses and better customer services, as it helps customers facilitate payment for goods and services. However, operators are faced with many challenges.
Funding/commission
One Alhaji Musa, a PoS operator at Krist Oladunmi Street, Ejigbo, Lagos State, said he got the money he used to open the PoS business from his other business. “I run a petty trade in provisions, body creams and all kinds of drinks.”
According to him, in every transaction, he gets five per cent because he bought the Opay machine with his money. Musa added that the percentage a PoS agent realises depends on the location of the business.
“If you are in a place where banks are scarce, you can increase your charges. High charges can drive customers away,” he said.
Before starting the PoS business, Ogochukwu Anolue ran other businesses, from where she raised money to open the PoS business. Today, she has PoS shops and workers in many places.
A FirstMonie agent, who owns Classy Laundry and Drycleaning Services at Osungaesan Street, Ejigbo, also shared with Financial Street how he operates the PoS machine he got from First Bank of Nigeria Limited. According to him, the bank takes part of the charges from every transaction he makes.
Challenges
Musa said he had faced a lot of challenges in the PoS business. According to him, some of the challenges include delay in reverse of money in uncompleted transactions.
According to him, this happens mostly when the card of a customer making withdrawal is debited, but the PoS machine declined the transaction.
“The customer will insist that he must be given his money due to the debit message,” he added.
He also complained that a number of times, there would be issue with his bank in refunding money to customers by his bank, which causes problem between him and his customers.
When the trouble persists, he would, reportedly, help the customer to contact the bank or demand his statement of account, so the customer could see.
Another problem in operating the PoS machine is depositing money to wrong accounts, Musa added.
There are so many problems and challenges surrounding the operation of PoS services, echoed Anolue. “Some of these issues have brought disputes between the PoS agents and cardholders. Some are delayed reversal of money, network problems, banks’ customers’ problems, security, charges, incompetent sales persons, fake alerts and transactions from customers.
The owner of Classy Laundry and Drycleaning Services, who asked to remain anonymous, described network failure as a problem he could not skip.
He said that a number of times, he had had to wait for over 10 minutes before he could carry out transactions.
“Poor network can delay customers, making them to look for alternatives. This is frustrating.
“Also, many companies claim to give out PoS for free, but you have to wait a long time before you can secure one. To avoid waiting, you will be asked to pay a certain amount of money for it,” he noted.
He also mentioned security as another problem.
According to him, some people, at times, think that those in the business have money and sometimes attempt to steal from him.
“Many will come with faulty cards or insufficient funds, thinking they still have credits. This usually leads to a waste of time,” he added.
