Fake Alert: House of Reps Call for Stricter Punishment

The House of Representatives has reached out to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to create rigid measures to regulate the use of Point of Sale (POS) business Operations in Nigeria.

The notion was discussed at a plenary session on Thursday, 3rd March by Hon. Jimoh Olajide as he pointed out a number of advantages from the use of POS.

One notable thing Jimoh stressed was how Nigerians have taken advantage of this technology to create jobs and opportunities for themselves. Hon. Jimoh also pointed out that a number of people are using this initiative to carry out fraudulent activities.

Speaking in the session, Olajide disclosed: “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 lawmaker expressed worry that there are no regulations guiding the use of POS for those that have made a business out of it. He also noted that while banks may authorise and licence several merchants, private entities also have the liberty to authorise and licence merchants.

Jimoh drew the house’s attention to a recent case where a banker sabotaged a bank’s Automated Teller Machine (ATM) just so that customers would patronise his POS outlets in the neighbourhood. He noted that cases like this and people who would fake alerts to merchants alongside merchants who charge exorbitant rates and store customers’ information are serious issues and the CBN needs to put in place stricter measures to regulate the use of POS and reduce fraudulent activities.

On that note, Jimoh said: “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 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.”

POS use in Nigeria is growing by the day and this plays into the development of communities and financial inclusion. A 2016 report by Statista discloses that there were about 403,000 POS in the continent with Nigeria being the country with the second-highest after South Africa.

The benefits of this initiative are clearly important as it not only facilitate financial inclusion but also liberates people from unemployment. However, there have been a number of cases where fraudulent activities have been carried out using POS terminals. And such activities deter people from using POS for transactions.

It is now quite important for the Central Bank to regulate activities that involve POS service providers, merchants and people who default and carry out fraudulent activities.