Reps ask CBN to impose ‘stringent regulation’ on POS operators

The house of representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to introduce “stringent regulations” on the operators of point of sale (POS) business in the country.

The legislators passed the resolution during a plenary session on Thursday following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Jimoh Olajide, a lawmaker from Lagos state.

Speaking on the motion, Olajide said POS businesses are now used to perpetrate fraud.

He called for the need to have strict regulations on POS operators in the country.

“The point of sale system is where customers make payments for products or services rendered but due to many factors, the point of sale (POS) has been turned into a lucrative business in Nigeria and has provided jobs for millions of unemployed Nigerians that see it as a good alternative to white-collar jobs in the country,” he said.

“While many Nigerians are making legal money from this lucrative business, some are using it for fraudulent acts to create fake credit alerts to defraud innocent customers hence the need for government intervention to rescue the rising business sector in the country.

“The point of sale (POS) merchants in Nigeria are not only licensed by commercial banks, others, private companies are currently in the business of giving out point of sale (POS) for business purposes thus making the business to be more porous and ambiguous.

“Presently, no financial regulatory bodies in Nigeria can precisely ascertain the total number of point of sale (POS) machines and their operators in the country.

“Some of the POS operators fraudulently charge exorbitant amounts of money from their customers’ bank accounts, while some retain vital information from customer’s ATM cards in the course of making the financial transactions.”

The motion was unanimously adopted after it was put to a voice vote by Idris Wase, the presiding officer.

The parliamentarians mandated the committee on banking and currency to organise a stakeholders’ meeting to address the menace.