Value of PoS’ Transactions Hits N3.01tn in Six Months

Ndubuisi Francis and Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The value of Point of Sales (POS) transactions carried out in Nigeria increased to N3.01 trillion in the first six months of 2021, with a total volume of 462.11 million transactions during the period.

The value is a 50 per cent rise over the N2 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2020, and a 10.3 per cent increase against N2.72 trillion recorded in the second half of 2020.

The President of Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), Victor Olojo disclosed this on Wednesday at the 5th AMMBAN national conference, in Abuja.

Citing the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) for the month of June 2021, the Olojo stated that the increase in the value of PoS transactions in Nigeria indicated the spending patterns of Nigerians and payment preferences, as compared to cash payments.

According to him, the value of PoS transactions increased by 10.3% in H1 2021 from N2.72 trillion recorded in H2 2020 to N3.01 trillion in the review period.

However, he pointed out that the value of transactions has been on a steady decline since March 2021, when it hit its peak.

In the month of June 2021, h e said POS transactions declined marginally by 0.01% from N503.96 billion to N503.91 billion.

The volume of POS transactions stood at 462.11 million in the review period, representing a 66% year-on-year increase, compared to 278.28 million transacted in H1 2021.

On a month-on-month comparison, Olojo said transactions through POS terminals rose from 79.07 million in May 2021 to 81.97 million in June 2021.

This he said reflects a massive surge when compared to 49.42 million transactions recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.

According to him, the number of registered POS terminals in the country rose to 976,898 in June 2021, just a little under 1 million, compared to 523,488 registered as of the same period in 2020.

Statistics show that PoS machines in use as of June 2021 stood at 638,983.

For him, the increase in e-payment transactions in Nigeria is a reflection of Nigerians growing adoption of cashless transactions. The growth in the number of POS businesses in the country, he said has also formed a major source of employment for Nigerians, especially youths. He listed, network disruption, delay in dispute resolutions, insecurity and low awareness creation.

As major challenges hampering their POS operators and called on the CBN to revisit the agents regulation procedure and training.
As part of efforts to streamline the activities of operators, the Olojo said the association would adopt self regulation and deploy a task-Force to ensure that an average Mobile Money agent plays by the rules.

‘‘Enough of people going under the tree to just set up POS branches, enough of people hawking, if you go to some POS Centre you see people running around POS machines. None of that will continue to axis from this moment on. Anybody operating as a Mobile Money agent must strictly adhere to laid down procedure as prescribed b as led down the CBN.’’

The Chief Executive of Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities Limited, SANEF, Ronke Kuye called for collaboration among stakeholders, urging operators not to see their job as a 100 metre race but as a sustainable profession.

Kuye equally called for the retraining of PoS agents and more awareness creation, especially among the rural dwellers.

The conference was organised by AMMBAN to educate and enlighten members and all stakeholders by seasoned technocrats on the best practice.