NIGERIA:PoS transactions hit N1.4tn in 2017

Nigerians carried out N1.41tn worth of transactions on the Point of Sales terminals across the country in 2017.

The transactions were conducted on about 155,462 active terminals that had been made available to retailers by mobile money merchants, data made available by the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System showed.

The statistics indicated that this was the highest value recorded since it was introduced in 2012 by the Central Bank of Nigeria to drive home its cashless policy aimed at enhancing Nigeria’s payment system.

The highest transaction valued at N167.58bn was recorded in December while the lowest payment of N91.29bn on the PoS was done in January.

An analysis of the statistics indicated that the PoS transactions rose by 85.75 per cent from N0.758tn the country recorded in 2016 and that this payment system was used 1.46 million times in the past year.

The value of electronic bills payment also appreciated in 2017, recording the highest value of N550.75bn in the past three years. This is a 62.3 per cent increase in the value of transactions compared with N339.42bn recorded in 2016.

Meanwhile, the rate at which payment of bills were done electronically declined last year compared with the previous years as only 905,980 transactions were recorded in the report.

This is a 12 per cent decrease from the 1.03 million electronic bill payments made in the country in 2016.

However, fraud perpetrated through online payment systems remains worrisome as stakeholders say fraudsters have stolen about N237bn since 2007 from Nigerian banks through the various electronic payment systems.

Speaking recently at an annual payment systems and fraud conference organised by the E-Payment Providers Association of Nigeria in Lagos, the Country Manager, Accenture, Niyi Yusuf, noted that the e-payment sector was at the risk of more huge losses if the issue was not addressed.

According to him, the growth in sophisticated technology has provided an opportunity for fraudsters to develop means of using the widespread Internet access to perpetrate their activities.

“As the adoption of e-payment rose in Nigeria, so also the amount lost to fraud. Only 12 per cent of fraud happens across the counters while the remaining 88 per cent is online,” he said.

He explained that the emerging trends in the financial industry would make combating fraud tougher and more essential in the next five to 10 years.

While acknowledging the significant growth of the PoS payment system in Nigeria, 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.”

The co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Digital Encode, Mr. Peter Obadare, had also attributed security breaches to inadequate infrastructure, high propensity of failed transactions, inconsistent system reports and settlement delays.

SOURCE:PUNCH