Reps raise alarm over fraudulent POS transactions

Members of the House of Representatives, on Thursday, expressed grave concern over the spate of fraudulent financial transactions being perpetuated by Point of Sale (POS) Business Operators across Nigeria.

The lawmakers expressed the concern during the debate on a motion sponsored by Hon Jimoh Olajide, who solicited for the House intervention with a view to ameliorate the sufferings of unsuspecting Nigerians who have victims of the fraudulent practice.

In the bid to address the challenge, the House tasked authorities of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to, in the public interest, introduce stringent regulations and guidelines including sanctions on the Point of Sale (POS) business operations in Nigeria;

In his lead debate, Hon Olajide frowned at the activities of some of the POS managers using the POS for fraudulent acts to create fake credit alerts to defraud innocent customers.

“The House notes that the Point of Sale System is where customers make payments for products or services rendered but due to many factors, the Point of Sale 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.

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“The House also notes 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 House is worried that the Point of Sale (POS) merchants in Nigeria are not only licensed by Commercial Banks, other Private Companies are currently in the business of giving out Point of Sale for business purposes thus making the business to be more porous and ambiguous.

“The House is concerned that presently, no financial regulatory bodies in Nigeria can precisely ascertain the total number of Point of Sale Machines and their Operators in the country.

“The House is also concerned that on December 21 2021, the Punch Newspaper reported an allegation by the residents of Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State alleging that the Aniocha branch’s Union Bank and First Bank Staff deliberately sabotaged the Banks Automated Teller Machines (ATM) on non-availability of cash, thus leaving customers with no choice to patronise the alleged Banks Staff owned POS Centres around the Banks.

“The House is aware that in exercising the powers conferred on the Central Bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 (as amended) to issue guidelines, rules and standards for financial services to the public and to ensure good conduct and management of the financial system, the Central Bank of Nigeria had released ATM guidelines and
regulations which include among other things, that any institution operating an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) shall file an updated list of such ATMs, including the detailed location of their addresses with the Banking and Payments System Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria for compliance and monitoring.

“The House is worried that 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,” he noted.

To this end, the House mandated its Committee on Banking and Currency to organise stakeholders meeting for the purpose of tackling the menace of the operation of the Point of Sale System in Nigeria.