HOW TO BECOME A POS AGENT IN NIGERIA

A financial institution approves a POS agent to perform mobile money services like withdrawals, transfers, and bill payments to customers. Before becoming a POS agent, you must choose a POS service company. There are many of these in Nigeria. Below are some of the popular ones that the latter part of this article highlights:

1. First bank
2. Wema Bank
3. Opay mobile bank
4. Bankly POS
5. Monie Point POS
6. Kudi bank
7. GTbank
8. Paga
9. Zenith bank
10. Access bank
11. Quickteller
12. Ecobank
13. Baxibox
14. UBA

To become a POS agent, one must open a bank account with the financial institution you want to work with or work under a bank you already have an account with. The latter is a better option because your transaction history can make you more qualified to be accepted as their agent.

What Does It Cost To Start A POS Business

The startup cost for a POS business in Nigeria has no fixed amount, but it depends on some factors, which are listed below:

• Location: 

The location you intend to open your POS business will determine the amount of money you’ll need to rent a store or kiosk or even an umbrella stand. You should ask around and find out the cost of setting up where you want to operate your POS business from.

• POS machine/device: 

The cost of POS devices ranges from NGN30,000 to above NGN100,000. This price depends on the bank or Fintech company you plan to use as your POS service provider.

• Available Cash: 

You need a substantial amount of money to enable you to perform daily transactions. It can be from NGN100,000 to NGN300,000, at a minimum. With this sum of money, you can satisfy your customers’ financial needs.

Requirements for starting a POS business

• Start-up capital: 

As earlier mentioned, the capital needed for the POS business is not expensive because you don’t need a lot to start the business.

• Location: 

The next step is picking out a location for the business, somewhere with a need for POS business and where your business will flourish. Examples of such places are markets, parks, well-populated areas and others.

• Official requirements: 

The Central Bank of Nigeria has set some requirements that POS agents must meet before any financial organization approves them. You can get details of the requirements either by going to the bank you have chosen or by contacting their customer care. The CBN permits POS agents to work under various POS service providers, but the required documents for each provider might vary from the other.

Below are some of these documents:

1. Valid means of identification like National ID Card, Voter’s ID Card, etc.
2. Passport photographs
3. Bank Verification Number (BVN)
4. Current Account references
5. Evidence of business registration (CAC Certificate)
6. Start-up funds/ capital minimum of NGN50,000
7. Tax Identification Number (TIN)

Once the bank approves your application, they will give you a POS machine, free or attached with a cautionary fee, so you can begin your POS business.