by Praise Onu

A Public affairs analyst and social commentator has stated that Point Of Sale (POS) operators and Banks must be monitored by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, so as to mitigate the level of fraud in the banking and fintech sector.

He made this position known on Diamond FM’s flagship program, Diamond Breakfast show today, 28th November, 2024 while speaking on the fraudulent activities of some POS operators, as well as the relationship that exists between conventional banks and POS operators.

According to him, the rationale behind the establishment of Point of sale, POS, which was to ensure ease of money transactions in remote areas where banks do not operate, has been defeated, adding that people no longer take their money to conventional banks, they prefer the POS.

In his words: “patronising POS operators is tantamount to trading of the Naira, because when you pay for charges when withdrawing money it means we are buying Naira, which is not supposed to be so.

He stressed that: ” the onus is on the CBN to curb this fraudulent practices. The CBN has to come down really hard on POS operators, we can’t just have security operatives running after POS operators, instead stringent measures to ensure that POS operators are registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and primarily CBN should be put in place.”

He also emphasized the need for a threshold in the various banking sectors including the online banking system adding that everyone appreciates the ease of transacting but there should be a specific threshold for various kinds of transactions.

In response to the fees and charges often deducted by banks, he stated that: “the bank should be held accountable and they should have seamless transaction that is evident in the glitch-free online banking system.”

“This all boils down to the CBN, they should strictly monitor banking operations to prevent them from taxing the people thus making the banking sector more responsible,” he added.

Edited by Nedu Okorie