Ismaeel Uthman
SEQUEL to the lingering scarcity of cash, commercial motorcyclists known as okada riders and petty trades in the State of Osun have resolved to accepting transfer as mode of payment for fare and sales.
OSUN DEFENDER noted that petty traders have been procuring Point of Sales (POS) machines to aide the electronic payment for their customers.
This is just as both the petty traders and commercial motorcyclists have opted for the virtual micro finance banks with which they receive transfer payment from the customers and passengers.
While majority of the POS operators have shutdown their shops due to lack of cash, findings revealed that the collection of the POS machines is increasing among the petty traders.
A foodstuff seller in Owode-Ede, Mrs Sherifat Abimbola, said she opted for the POS machine to increase her sales, saying majority of her customers offered to make transfer payment after buying goods from her.
According to Abimbola, her sales had dropped since the cash crunch began, explaining that she had refused to accept electronic payment because of the fraud and stress associated with it.
Abimbola said she later went to procure a POS machine to aide the electronic payment for her customer and prevent fraudulent transaction.
She said: “When this cash crunch started, the sales was down and the market was dull generally. I was not accepting transfer for payment from my customers because I was afraid of being scammed and the stress of confirming the payment. That affected my sales for like three weeks.
“When I discovered that I was losing customers and I was not making sales again, I went to collect POS machine. With that, my customers will use their ATM to make payment and it will be confirmed immediately. That has increased my sales.”
Speaking with OSUN DEFENDER on Wednesday, a fish seller at Oja-Oba market in Ikirun, Mrs Bisola Aderibigbe, said she resolved to opening an account with one of the virtual microfinance banks to receive transfer payment from her customers.
She said: “Since everybody is making transfer payment, I was told this online microfinance banks do not charge like the normal commercial banks. So, I opened an account with one of them and I have been receiving payment from it since.
“I was afraid of receiving transfer into my normal account because of the crazy charges on every transaction. But the virtual account is far better than the commercial banks for us the petty traders. We are now adapting to the cashless policy.”
Some of the commercial motorcyclists who spoke with the medium said they had no choice than to accept the reality of the cash policy and ensure that it does not cripple their operations.
One of the commercial motorcyclists, John Agboola, a graduate of Business Administration, said he was fast to accept the reality which necessitated him to be accepting transfer for the payment of transport fare from his passengers when his colleagues were lamenting at the early stage.
Agboola said: “I knew this cash crunch will linger for long; and everybody know there is no cash in circulation. I am one of the few commercial motorcyclists, if not the first person, to start accepting transfer payment from our passengers.
“I will be the one to tell them that I accept transfer, though I will add like N50 or above to the fare as charge, and that really boosted my operation. Many of my colleagues are accepting transfer too for payment now. I am happy we are moving with the tide.”
