House of Reps Warns POS operators in Nigeria

Point-of-sale (POS) operators in Nigeria have been warned to cease the sale of naira notes and remove the excessive charges levied on customers. The House of Representatives gave these instructions on Thursday, following a motion titled “Need to Curb the Sale of Naira Notes by the Point-of-Sales (POS) operators in Nigeria”.

This motion was moved by Mohammed Shehu who lamented over the outrageous charges POS operators demand from customers nationwide. He noted that some operators go as far as charging ₦4000 for a ₦10, 000 withdrawal, thereby plunging citizens into more economic hardship.

Mr Shehu highlighted that “there is a need for the government to utilize its relevant authorities under the Central Bank of Nigeria, Act 2007 to supervise Commercial Banks and advise on financial matters, including regulating Point of Sale operators, as that will validate public confidence and address the hardships faced by citizens in Nigeria’s financial transactions.”

With reference to Sections 1 and 2 of the said Act, the House of Representatives urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to rigorously monitor and supervise the daily activities conducted by commercial banks. This is owing to the history of POS machines as tools to compensate for the dawdling of commercial banks in the country. Point-of-sales machines have significantly contributed to Nigeria’s financial sector by assisting the public in resolving banking challenges. Commercial banks, however, need to be more up and doing.

The House of Representatives mandated the Committees on Banking Regulations and Digital and Electronic Banking to summon the Minister of Finance and National Planning as well as the Governor of the CBN. The objective of the meeting would be to look into why commercial banks are not readily dispensing cash to customers. The House argued that these steps would alleviate hardships in financial transactions within the nation.

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Confidence Ubani

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