Cash scarcity: PoS operators turn to market sellers, filling stations

Point-of-Sale (POS) operators have opted to buy money from market sellers and petrol station attendants in a bid to have sufficient cash to do their business as commercial banks peg withdrawal limit to N5000. Daily Trust findings revealed that POS operators pay between N1,000 to N2,000 to buy cash ranging from N100,000-N200,000, from market sellers […]

Point-of-Sale (POS) operators have opted to buy money from market sellers and petrol station attendants in a bid to have sufficient cash to do their business as commercial banks peg withdrawal limit to N5000.

Daily Trust findings revealed that POS operators pay between N1,000 to N2,000 to buy cash ranging from N100,000-N200,000, from market sellers or petrol stations, prompting a 100  per cent increase in charges from customers.

For instance, the charges for N5000 by POS operators have increased from N100 to N200.

In an interview with Daily Trust, POS operators expressed concerns, stressing that the unavailability of cash from banks over the counter and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) has disrupted economic activities.

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A POS operator, Beauty Odion highlighted the challenges confronting POS operators, stressing that many operators used their productivity hours in search of cash, imposing untold hardship on them.

“Now, because of the scarcity of cash, you leave home very early in the morning looking for cash. By 11 am till 12 pm, you are still on the way. Sometimes, I go to about four to five banks and check their ATMs too, sometimes you might be lucky to see cash.”

She lamented that there has been low patronage of customers since the increase of the charges from POS operators to N200 from N100 on N5000, attributing the increase of their charges to the scarcity of cash and N50 Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) deducted from Fintech companies.

“Yes, we have increased our charges but customers refuse to pay. Yeah, coupled with our bank removing money from us, they are now collecting N50. So, we increase our charges.  We find it difficult to get the cash and yet the customer will refuse to pay the right price for us. So, you can see it’s really affecting us. We cannot make much gain again,” she said.

Okechukwu Christopher narrated his ordeal to get cash, stressing that he had devised another means of getting cash by depending on his neighbour who sells staple foods in the market.

Olumide Sheriff added that he sources cash through market sellers since fund withdrawals from banks were not sufficient to carry out his business daily.

“For two weeks, it has been difficult to get cash. The highest that banks give us is N5000, so we have to go to market people to collect cash or from filling stations. The market sellers prefer giving out the cash rather than holding it, most when they want to purchase new items,” he said.