New PoS Charges: FG Gives Marching Orders to Banks to Tackle Erring Agents, Cash Scarcity
- Vice President Kashim Shettima asked banks to rein in Point-of-Sale (Point of Sale) operators
- He also asked the banks to tackle the issues of cash scarcity at ATMs and the exploitative practices of PoS agents
- The VP said that Nigerians are bitter about the lack of cash at ATMs, which prevents them from doing minimal transactions
Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.
Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has asked banks to tackle cash scarcity at ATMs and exploitative practices by point-of-sale (PoS) operators.
The VP spoke at the bankers’ committee meeting recently, saying that Nigerians are bitter about the lack of cash at ATMs and that the scarcity is hampering financial inclusion efforts.
Source: Getty Images
Shettima blames PoS operators for cash scarcity
Tope Fasua, Special Adviser on Economic Affairs, represented Shettima. He asked banks to address some unethical practices by PoS agents that were responsible for the scarcity.
He said Nigerians cannot access cash for minimal transactions and that there are some adverse selection problems with the connivance of PoS agents.
Shettima said:
“Nigerians complain about high and arbitrary charges and exploitation by rogue agents, which we are sure you will be able to tackle with concerted efforts.”
Shettima praised the recent branch openings by Nigerian banks in France, saying Nigeria’s financial institutions have grown globally.
PoS agents increase charges
Legit.ng earlier reported that Zenith Bank unveiled its new branch in Paris, the French capital, with the United Bank for Africa disclosing that it signed a business cooperation deal with the French government to begin entire banking operations.
Recently, financial technology companies began charging an N50 Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) as the Nigerian Finance Act mandated.
The fintech firms notified their customers of the commencement of the EMTL charges, leading to PoS operators increasing their costs.
Money transfer transactions exempted from EMTL charges
Legit.ng earlier reported that some banking transactions are exempted from the EMTL charges.
According to the 2023 Finance Act, intra-bank transfers and transactions below N10,000 are ineligible for the EMTL charges.
The Nigerian government introduced the EMTL via the Federal Inland Revenue Service for electronic money transfers on transactions of N10,000 and above.
Source: Legit.ng
