Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Scheme has disclosed that a total of 9,145 Point of Sales terminals were deployed for cashless transactions by banks across the country in the first two months of the year.

This brings the total number of active PoS terminals in the country to 164,607 as of the end of February, industry statistics from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Scheme have shown.

In addition, about 9,608 terminals were registered in January and February, bringing the total number of registered terminals to 192,414.

The value of transactions on the e-payment platform also grew in relation to increasing number of terminals in circulation. In January, transactions worth N152.099bn were carried out. The amount is 66.61 per cent higher than the N91.29bn recorded in January 2017.

In February 2018 as well, the value of transactions grew by 60.61 per cent from N90.2bn in the previous year to N144.876bn this year.

The Managing Director, Global Accelerex, Mr. Kayode Ariyo, attributed the increased deployment of the PoS to the high level of acceptance of electronic payment in the country.

He said there was a new trend in which merchants were now requesting for the PoS terminals contrary to what obtained when the terminals were newly introduced in which retailers had not discovered its value.

He said, “The major factor that has contributed to that is the acceptance. People are getting more comfortable with the card payment. The adoption of electronic payment is on the increase by consumers. Retailers and merchants have come to terms with it. In the past, we had to appeal to merchants to use the PoS channel. But now, we have a trend where merchants are the ones calling and asking for the PoS terminals.”

According to him, the payment cards used in Nigeria are better secured than those in other climes due to the absence of magnetic strip on them.

“We have cards with better security in Nigeria than other places. The magnetic strip which is more vulnerable to theft is not allowed by law on the PoS. That function is disabled on the Nigerian PoS; that has greatly helped. The information does not reside on the card. There is an enhanced security feature on the cards issued by banks today,” Ariyo added.

While acknowledging the significant growth of the PoS payment system in Nigeria recently, the Director, Banking and Payments System, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, urged banks to carry out risk ratings on prospective merchants.

He said, “It is essential that we continue to conduct necessary due diligence on any merchant to be extended a PoS terminal. Banks must know the businesses of their respective merchants and carry out appropriate risk ratings, while acquirers and issuers must implement fraud monitoring tools on both issuing and acquiring sites of their businesses.”