CBN to Investigate Merchants on PoS Charges

The Central Bank of Nigeria has said it would investigate merchants that have refused to comply with its directives on the Point of Sale charges.

The apex bank had directed merchants to stop the deduction of additional N50 stamp duty on PoS transactions carried out by customers.

However findings show some outlets have refused to comply with the apex bank directive and continued to charge customers.

Some other merchants have been encouraging their customers to pay with cash, complaining that the network was bad on the PoS.

A source in the CBN revealed that the appropriate department within the apex bank would wade into the issue.

According to the source, “The implementation of the new charges only commenced on Wednesday; I will alert the appropriate department.”

Stakeholders had said that the N50 stamp duty charges on payment above N1, 000 on the PoS terminals and web platforms were hindering the cashless transaction initiative of the CBN.

Many customers had preferred to withdraw cash over the counter or at the ATM to pay for transactions in order to avoid the N50 PoS charge.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission had on December 24, 2019 stopped the additional N50 charge imposed on transactions conducted through the PoS terminals.

The fee, which was said to have emanated from the CBN, was meant to be for consumers who selected the PoS option to conclude their purchases or transactions.

The CBN, in a circular to banks, processors and switches on September 17, 2019, had authorized banks to unbundle merchant settlement amounts and charge applicable taxes and duties on individual taxes and duties on individual transactions.

The merchant service charge was reviewed downward by the apex bank from 0.75 per cent (capped at N1, 200) to 0.50 per cent (capped at N1, 000).

The CBN directed all PoS and web processing officers to ensure that stamp duty was correctly processed daily by downloading transactions valued at N1, 000 and above, multiply the count of the transactions by N50 and pass the corresponding debit to the respective merchant accounts.