Agu Dawn
THE outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic has grounded
the economy, inflicting pains
all over the world. It also posed
serious challenges to health of
many countries. For COVID-19,
it has been a lose-lose situation
for many nations.
The lockdown measures adopted to control the spread of the
pandemic contributed in complicating the situation. Small scale
businesses have been grounded
with many of them incurring
huge losses.
Just as in most circumstances,
while many are weeping and
crying, some others have exploited the COVID-19 situation
into huge advantages, smiling
to the banks with their vantage
thriving businesses. Those in
that category include cash back
businesses, the Point of Sale
(POS) operators.
The business, thriving amidst
the current lockdown in Abuja,
is acting as a substitute for banks
under lock and key. Bank is part
of those in the essential servicescategory but currently not operating on full scale, has resulted
in most people relying on the
use of ATM for cash transaction.
However, since most ATM outlets are incidentally not always
filled with cash, the situation
therefore requires going through
longer route sometimes to find a
functioning one.
Daily Sun investigation in the
city centres of the FCT, Abuja,
revealed that residents adopted
other measures to have cash in
their pockets. One such measure
is POS but the experiences have
been with mixed feelings.
A POS shop owner in Lugbe
Market, Chijioke Kalu, who was
among those on the down side,
said: “Surprisingly, the lockdown has not increased patronage because of the location of
my shop. In the contrary, it has
slowed down the business and
reduced patronage because people don’t come inside the market
daily.”
He argued that times like this
should naturally translate into
business boom for the operators.
But due to the location of his
shop inside the market and the
entry restrictions, patronage has
been very low. He added that
most people took time to stock
up before the lockdown, making
the usual crowd in the market to
reduce drastically.
On the rates he charges, he
said: “The standard service
charge is N100 for every transaction of N5000. But if I see
someone’s dressing and feel they
are well to do, I can increase the
charge. All these wealthy men
that come to shop, they don’t really care about the charge. Some
will even give you tips. So, when
I see those kinds of people, I can
charge them N500 instead of the
usual N100.”
Another operator at the busy
Phase 2 Avenue, Corner Shops,
Federal Housing Authority, Aisha Yusuf, was attending to a
long queue of customers. She
said despite the increase in patronage, she has not hiked the
charge:
“The standard charge is N100
for every transaction worth of
N5000. And that is the rate I
have maintained despite the Continued on page 19
boom.” Asked if the lockdown
has brought changes to her
business, she smiled, pointing out how long it took her to
speak with our correspondent.
She admitted that there has
been sharp rise in patronage,
crediting the circumstances to
two major factors: “The first is the
lockdown which has forced banks
to render only partial services,
which diverted clients to me. The
second is, ATMs all around Lugbe are mostly out of cash and are
not regularly reloaded.
“Right now, we have only
one ATM machine functioning,
that one close to the Total filling station and as you can see,
the crowd there was too much.
Most people would rather pay
the small service charge and
just get what they want.” On
her daily income, she laughed:
“Business has been doing fine.
I have every reason to thank
God.”
A cash back service operator, Prince and Princess Estate,
Kaura, Stephen Okolo, equally
admitted that: “Business has
been great, there is no ATM
close by and for people to withdraw money, they have to go to
Gudu. Usually on the day the
market opens, there’s a crowd
here.
“For every N5000 I charge
N200 now. I increased the fee
because I risk my life going to
queue at ATMs to withdraw
money and people just stroll to
cash here. In a long time, I have
not experienced this kind of
good business so I am enjoying
it. I hope it continues for a long
time.”
While the operators are enjoying the boom of the cash back
business, some of the users are
not happy about the increase in
charges and the frequency of their
patronage of the service. A customer, Jubril Adamu said: “I have
no choice than to depend on their
services. I need cash and going to
the ATM is not very safe because
you have to protect yourself.
Some people have increased their
sub charges and it is not good, but
what choice do I have? Even with the lockdown, the need for cash
still exists. I will use the service
until things return to normal.”
It was the same lamentation
for Amina Abukukar: “I don’t
have a car to go to the ATM so
I am happy to use this cash back
service. My only problem is the
charges. Things are already hard
and expensive and if you are calculating the small change they
keep collecting overtime you realise you are spending too much.
“I wish they will stop the sub
charges at least we can save now
but it is business and they are
making their profit. I just wish
the government can help us out
of this hardship a little and maybe these people will reduce what
they charge.
“I used to patronise the cash
back person in Kaura Market but
she has added money to hers. For
N5000 she charges N250. That
is too much and I stopped going
there. I am praying that this pandemic will end soon. Hopefully
everyone benefiting from it will
go back to normal charges.”