Agency banking threatened as fraudsters run operators out of business

As the economic situation of the country deteriorates, fraudsters may be getting smarter in their craft as operators of agent banking, popularly known as point of sale (POS), in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have raised concerns over rising financial frauds, which threaten their businesses.

The Guardian learnt that the agents are closing their shops daily as the activities of fraudsters, who use different tactics in the trades, intensify.

The operators, who spoke with The Guardian, said their businesses are threatened by fake alerts and other scams.

The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) noted that there will be about N9.5 billion in the banking sector in 2023.

While the PoS was intended to bridge the financial gap in the country and move services closer to people, the operators insisted that the financial sector must be protected to reduce losses.

An operator, Adetula Maureen, at Phase 3 of Kubwa, said she has been defrauded several times.

Maureen said she had lost about N60,000 earlier in the day before this interview.

According to her, the fraudster pressured her to pay him before verifying the transaction.

She added that on the same day after she was duped, her sister who operates PoS also was duped.

It was more like a family heartbreak as the two depend on the PoS for survival.

Maureen said the situation has been escalating primarily because most people who commit the crime are never punished, adding that the banking sector is not helping enough to halt the crime.

Another operator, Fred Umeh, said his business has almost crumbled over losses that he has repeatedly incurred over fraudulent transactions.

“The system must be safe. People must trust the system otherwise the banking system would still be challenging for the unbanked population,” Umeh said.

He urged operators to be careful and not allow any customer to put them under pressure.

“Always verify transactions before disbursement, to help reduce loss amidst the economic challenges,” he said.

Elsewhere – Lagos, Port Harcourt and other cities – the situation is not different. Rising criminal activities that target the cash centres have become a major threat to agency banking, an initiative created to reduce the number of unbanked.

Some operators in the cities have stopped the transfer options and opted for automated machine card (ATM) card withdrawal. This is because most criminals use fake alerts, computer-generated credit alerts, to defraud their targets.