Point of Sale, PoS, operators have decried the adverse effect of the scarcity of the new Naira notes on their businesses, saying it may force them out of business.
Some of the operators in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Bauchi, noted with dismay the scarcity of redesigned Naira notes in the state.
Alheri Adamu, a POS operator in Wuntin Dada, said ”we have no access to money like before when the new Naira notes were introduced.
“That is why most of us stop operations because of the scarcity of the new notes from commercial banks.
“The highest money you can get in the commercial banks is N20,0000 and before you get that amount it will take you like 3- 6 hours at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).,” she said.
Another PoS operator in GRA, Abdulsaheed Sani, said in some places, POS outlets were shut down as operators complained of scarcity of both the old and new notes.
“If you don’t have money the services become irrelevant, we the operators had a hard time getting both the old and new notes from the banks,” he said.
Sani said that their inability to access cash has stalled their operations, while operators who struggled to get cash blamed the hurdles they encountered at the banks for the increase in transaction charges.
Maimuna Garba, another POS Operator in the Yelwa area, said that the banks are not giving out cash to customers in spite of the long queues in their branches.
“We don’t get the cash again. That is why some operators charged N300 for each N5000 cash withdrawal due to the scarcity of the Naira notes.
“Banks are not dispensing enough new Naira notes and this makes it very difficult for us to access the notes,” she said.
Hadi Muslim, POS operator in Central market Bauchi, said the business becomes so difficult to run, saying ”it is very difficult to access money unless you will buy it, so for how long can we be doing this?
“If you tell customers the new charges, they leave because they cannot afford it, so I am thinking of looking for an alternative business for now,” he said.
A CBN task force, led by Dr Jibrin Abdulkadir, have monitored the banks and found most of them wanting.
He noted with dismay that the banks have refused to issue new Naira notes collected from the apex bank, noting that it was a clear case of sabotage.
Meanwhile, NAN’s visit to UBA Wunti Market branch, shows a long queue at the banks’ ATMs dispensing but amidst struggle.
NAN also observed that some bank like UBA pay only N5000 to customers at the counter while TAJ Bank pay over N20,000 to customers Sterling Bank also pay at the counter.
NAN
