CASHLESS POLICY: REPORT INEFFECTIVE POS TO NIBSS - AJAO
The Acting Managing Director, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), Niyi Ajao has called on members of the banking public to report ineffective point of sale (PoS) terminals to the contact centre of the orginasation.
NIBSS is owned by all Licensed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and is a key player in interbank clearing and settlements in the country.
He said: 'NIBSS knows the location of every PoS terminal. In fact, we have a contact centre and their job is to monitor the PoS terminals. They know the location of every terminal.
'It is a full contact centre, fully staffed, it is on facebook, twitter, youtube, they have about ten telephone lines, they have email addresses, they have a help desk application that is on the internet. And we are telling the whole world that if you get to a place and the terminal is not working, you can please help us by sending a message to them (NIBSS Contact centre).
Point of Sales, POS, facilities
Just tell us, 'I am at this merchant location and they said the PoS is not working'. We would check our system immediately and know what is wrong. If really it has broken down, we would then call the bank that owns the terminal, we would call the payment terminal service provider that CBN has appointed to go and fix it. If they don't fix it on time, we have our escalation path.'
Ajao who canvassed the need for all to embrace the cash-less policy said an efficient Payments System will depend less on cash, and has great potential to grow the national economy. Such policy will also assist in increasing sales and commercial activities, as more convenient payment options other than cash are now available to buyers.
He said that cash-less banking has multiplier effect on profitability, higher wages, higher employment and higher GDP for the economy.
He explained that alternatives to cash payment include cheque, bank transfer, Same-Day Inter-Bank Transfer(NEFT), NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP), Standing Orders, Direct Debits, Payment Cards, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point of Sale (POS) Payments, Mobile Payments (micro-payments among others.
The NIBSS boss added that e-payment ensures security and convenience for payer and payee as well as reduces the overall cost of banking and payments, thereby reducing bank charges, and bringing the benefit of banking services to more citizens.
He said that it is projected that over N200 billion would be spent on cash management in 2012 and embracing the policy will save this cost, which will translate to lower cost of banking operations and decreased cost of lending.
Ajao said that NIBSS is at a point of fully implementating cheque truncation system in the country. The practice will phase out physical clearing of cheques and reduce the clearing days for banks by at least one day.
He said the CBN is expected to provide for the regulation and management of cheque truncation in Nigeria with the view to reducing cost and days of clearing instruments. It was also meant to articulate the rights and responsibilities of presenting and paying banks in the Cheque Truncation System.