Consumers to get cash back for POS transactions

To further encourage Nigerians to widely make use of electronic payment systems, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved an awareness campaign for electronic payment users.

The scheme which is known as “Electronic Payment Incentive Scheme (EPIS)” is being carried out by the CBN and the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS).

The scheme’s primary focus is to reward users of electronic payments platforms in Nigeria and to further encourage greater usage of the on-going Cashless Initiative by the general populace whilst promoting financial inclusion at the same time.

Mrs. Funmi Momodu, the EPIS Project Manager, in a statement yesterday, said NIBSS card holders are already benefiting from the CBN EPIS program through weekly cashback credits deposited to their accounts as incentives for purchases made via POS terminals.

“Other components of the incentive scheme include, the reduction of Merchant Service Charge (MSC) from 1.25 per cent to 0.75 per cent or a maximum of N1,200 as against the initial of N2,000, and the accelerated COT exemption for electronically based transactions.

The scheme also permits merchants to provide cash back services to cardholders following a purchase. This serves as an incentive for merchants to earn a fee for providing a value-added service Cash-out services to customers following a purchase of goods/services from their stores,“ she said.

Momodu also stated that part of the EPIS is the Loyalty Scheme (Point Based Reward System) which is slated to go live in the fourth quarter of 2015; “This will allow cardholders earn points each time payments are made via a POS terminal. These points can be accumulated and redeemed for gift items on the CBN Loyalty Web portal.”

In addition, Mrs. Lilian Phido, Head, Corporate Communications in NIBSS, added that the CBN had approved the implementation of EPIS raffle draw as a sensitization exercise before the launch of the loyalty scheme.She revealed that the NIBSS is set to kick start the maiden draw by the end August this year.

According to MobileMoneyAfrica, the raffle draw would be divided into 3 winning categories monthly and the cash prizes will be allocated as follows: 1st Prize Winner -N100,000, 1st Runner Up -N50,000 and 2nd Runner Up - N15,000.