POS AGENCY: AN OPPORTUNISTIC APPROACH TO CASH SCARCITY.

 

Before the naira scarcity, everyone said that the government was the source of the country's problems, but the current circumstance has proven that the problem begins with each individual.

As naira in cash became scarce, POS-Point of Sale- operators rose to become the new lords of the town. Previously, withdrawing less than N5,000 from these operators cost as little as N100, with some even going as low as N50 to outwit their competition, but this is no longer the case as the naira shortage has led to an increase in the rates.
It was easy to make excuses on their behalf as to why the prices had to rise; one would think that it couldn't have been easy for them to access the money with news going around about how long the queues were at ATM stands and how people had to fight their way into banking halls and wait for hours only to be given N1,000 or N2,000, as maximum withdrawal limit was being determined by banks based on the availability of cash. But the truth is that this is no excuse for extorting the average poor Nigerian.

The average Nigerian understands that business is relationship-based, so it is obvious that the POS operators are more than likely to be able to enter banking halls based on their relationship with certain bankers, which is expected, given that they must have been a regular face in the banking halls.

It may also be true that bankers charge operators a certain fee to disburse money to them, which is why most people put up with the increase in the operators' charge fee. However, the line should have been drawn much earlier, before an extortionate charge fee of 30% was required to make withdrawals.

Due to abrupt events that left the bulk of the country in a predicament of naira shortage, we the very country that called out loan apps for disbursing loans at an unreasonable rate have suddenly acted so much like the extortionate loan apps.
The POS agency, like every other business, should and must comprehend that their ability to provide cash to their customers without them having to walk into banking halls or stand in ATM lines, a service they provide at a cost, is what makes them relevant in the industry.

It was thus to be expected that due to the naira scarcity, they would either be unable to provide such service or continue to do so, of course, not at the same rate as before but perhaps at a reasonable cost that people could pay.

 
One particular lady in a community, a POS operator, as told, didn't raise her charge rate despite the dearth of naira; instead, she just imitated the banks' routine of only dispersing N1,000–N2,000 to each individual every day, making sure that whatever cash she had on hand would be equally distributed. This was a wise and patriotic decision, since she did not only give many people in the neighborhood access to money for basic daily needs, but also that it was being done at a price that was not excessively high.

They say that while we point a finger at another, all remaining four fingers are directed at us. By using the epidemic and the increase demand for their service to extort people and demand outrageous rates, I do hope they have built themselves a mansion off people’s hard earned money for the vendors of nose masks and hand sanitizers in the late 2020 and early 2021 had their moment and are no more of high relevance, this too shall pass.