The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has threatened to revoke the licenses of Point of Sale (PoS) agents who are seen charging clients more than necessary.
The warning was made by CBN on Tuesday.
According to Bifotad.com, POS operators in several states have been charging clients N1000, N1500, or N2000 for every N5000 or N10,000 they withdraw, and N300 for every N1000.
When discussing measures by the top bank and state governments to ensure the availability of currency in circulation with media yesterday, Blaise Ijebor, director of the CBN Risk Management section, revealed this.
He claims that the permitted price is N100 for every N5,000 and that everything the agents do in defiance of the approved charges because of the current cash shortage amounts to harming their fellow people.
He claims that they are aware that POS agents are using various shady tactics, such as charging clients up to 30% before handing them cash.
“We are monitoring the situation and anyone caught would have his or her license withdrawn and would not be in the business because we are going around with the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“Customer should not be agitated, there is no need for any tension because your money is safe in the bank for now just get the little cash you need while using alternative means available to make payment”.
He stated that between Sunday and Tuesday, the CBN distributed close to N1 billion to banks so that people may withdraw their money, while also ensuring that they are working with the state government to rectify the situation.
Ijebor: “We gave banks about N400m on Sunday, N200m on Monday, and on Tuesday(Today), we have given N460m. So, we are pushing out money.”