The Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), yesterday, said it has concluded plans to set up a task force to regulate Point Of Sale (POS) activities in order to check fraudulent practices.
The association added that active Point of Sale terminals used by merchants for financial transactions recorded N3.1 trillion in the second quarter of 2021.
National President of the association, Victor Olojo, in Abuja, at the 5th AMMBAN conference with the theme: “Sustaining the Gains of Financial Inclusion: Exploring Suitable Framework For Last Mile Drivers”, said: “We need to begin to self-regulate. Just this year alone, over 10 mobile money agents have lost their lives to robbery and issues of insecurity. We need to ensure that the POS doesn’t get into the wrong hands. The tax force would ensure that an average mobile money agent is playing by the rules.
He noted that the value of point of sales transactions made in Nigeria jumped to N3.01 trillion in the first half of 2021, with a total volume of 462.11 million transactions in the same period.
The volume represents a 50 percent increase compared to N2 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2020 and a 10.3 percent increase against N2.72 trillion recorded in the second half of 2020.
“The increase in the value of POS transactions in Nigeria shows the spending patterns of Nigerians and payment preferences as compared to cash payments.
“However, the value of transactions has been on a steady decline since March 2021, when it hit its peak. In the month of June 2021, POS transactions declined marginally by 0.01 percent from N503.96 billion to N5O3.91 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.”
lt is worth noting that on a month-on-month comparison, transactions through POS terminals rose from 79.07 million in May 2021 to 81.97 million in June 2021. It also reflects a massive surge when compared to 49.42 million transactions recorded in the corresponding period of 2020,” he added.