How to Get a POS Machine in Nigeria and the Simple Steps to Follow
The Nigerian economy has gone cashless with most payments being made online is done without physical cash. These tend to pose a problem to many of us especially business owners who now have to deal with meeting up to customers demand for cash payment. Do you know you can make your business go at ease with a simple POS. here in Nigeria, it’s easy to get if you follow the simple steps I have outline below.

What is a POS
Many of you will be wondering what I meant by the subject matter. Well this is it. A POS (Point of Sale) otherwise called Point of Purchase (POP) is a portal device that allows local debits cardholders make payment for goods and services in a retail environment. It can also be seen as the time and place where a retail transaction is completed.
The point of sale is often referred to as the point of service because it is not just a point of sale but also a point of return or customer order. The POS terminal can be used to perform a variety of financial transactions such as purchase, vending airtime (recharge) and balance enquiry.

Some of the benefits of having or using a POS machine to merchants, I mean business men include the following:
Instant confirmation of payment for goods
Reduce cost of personal and equipment for handling cash receipts.
Reduce the problem of carrying cash and making payment with bulk cash.
Eliminates the inconvenience of cheque and clearing period
Before You Get That Pos in Nigeria
I hope you still remember that POS machines are those machines we see at retail businesses that normally accept debits or credit cards just like an ATM and allow buyers to make payments directly to a sellers account without the need for cash. With a P.O.S machine, a business eliminates the need for taking cash to the bank since is revenue is directly paid into the bank.
If you have or run a business, it may be tempting to at least get a P.O.S machine but before you do that, you should consider a lot of things with the ultimate goal of whether it would really be beneficial to you business. Before you consider getting a POS machine here in Nigeria, you should consider the following things.
Type of customer
What type of customer do you really have as a seller or as a business person .do they understand the use of the card payment system and how a POS works? You have to go in the direction of your customer.
POS usage costs
Using a POS for business machine for business does come with some costs which makes the cash payments a bit more attractive. In Nigeria you will have to pay some certain percentage on the value of each successful transaction or payment they receive. So you have to know the various transaction cost for the POS machine at the various banks you are applying to get one from and go for the one that best suits your pocket.

Revenue level
Consider your revenue level, how much income do you really generate from your business. So if you make or handle lots of cash, its best you consider getting one as it will make your business transaction easy.
Power supply
P.O.S machines require electricity to keep running and they also make use of their own internal batteries. Though it has a recharge battery, you would need a constant power to keep it working for a long time so as to meet your customer demands and needs. So having a standby power generator for instance in Nigeria is a necessity.
Network availabity.
How reliable is the network of your proposed POS machine? Network issues can be so disappointing to both the merchants and the customer. So a POS user in the country would have to consider the act that POS usage is not 100% totally reliable yet as a result of bad network service and so he has to provide alternates when such service fails.
For business people wanting to accept card payments, here is how to get a POS for your business; you can take the following steps.
• You will need approach your bank and make a formal application.
• You will need to have a current account but some banks can accept savings account
• You can now speak to your account officer who will now give you a form to fill and sign. This should be the POS request form as well as an agreement document that you will sign.
• Following all checks and approval of the account, you should receive your POS in about 14 days, delivered to your business address. Please note that POS terminals are offered for free, however for each payment you accept, a fee is deducted for the services provided which includes routine free maintenance of the units.

In summary, cash payments are still popular in Nigeria especially for people making payments for bills and other utility items. A lot of small business owners find the use of POS terminals as a payment option preferable to cash. This option eliminates the problem of not having the exact change for customers during transactions, and it also minimizes employee theft. The fact that the business do not pay for the deployment and maintenance of the terminal is also a big plus.


Source: valentine uwakwe @www.valentine202.com

Ok ooo

can I pay with POS for small purchases, like N600? or is there a minimum purchase before you can use POS?

valentineuwakwe:
.