At nearly each boulevard corner in Nigeria on the present time, you’re at risk of find a smartly-diagnosed setup of a plastic chair below a worn umbrella, a puny table holding a Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminal, and a novel traipse of of us queuing to develop cash withdrawals or transfers. The increasing saturation of PoS brokers begs the put a query to: How profitable is PoS business in Nigeria?
Cash is Accrued King
According to the Nigeria Inter-Financial institution Settlement Machine (NIBSS), PoS transactions in Nigeria surged to ₦18 trillion in 2024, up from ₦10.7 trillion the earlier yr, representing a 69% increase. This increase is fueled by Nigeria’s inconsistent banking infrastructure, periodic cash shortages, and an increasingly cash-reliant population.
With over 1.9 million nice looking PoS terminals registered nationwide (NIBSS, Q1 2025), the business has change into both novel and deeply ingrained in day after day Nigerian lifestyles.
What PoS Brokers Construct
Associated outdated charges vary from ₦100 to ₦500 per transaction, depending on the amount and the positioning. A withdrawal of ₦5,000 can also entice a ₦100 fee, whereas ₦20,000 would possibly perchance well well price a buyer as much as ₦500. These costs cover the agent’s earnings margin, fintech platform commissions, and the vital ₦50 Digital Cash Transfer Levy on transfers above ₦10,000.
Depending on the stage of exercise at their plot, PoS operators tackle between 20 and 70 transactions every day, resulting in a every day income of ₦3,000 to ₦12,000. That adds as much as ₦90,000 to ₦360,000 monthly, a figure that with ease outpaces Nigeria’s contemporary minimum wage.
Then again, earnings vary widely. Operators in busy areas, akin to transport hubs and marketplaces, have a tendency to develop more, whereas those in quieter areas can also merely battle to maintain afloat.
The series of fintech platform additionally affects profitability, with platforms adore Opay offering tiered rewards for excessive transaction volumes, whereas others can also merely deduct bigger backend costs.
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What They Exhaust to Discontinue Afloat
Running a PoS business isn’t without price. Mobile information by myself can delight in as much as ₦30,000 monthly, especially for brokers relying on cloud-based mostly entirely terminals. Transportation charges to supply cash, in particular in consequence of financial institution withdrawal limits, can attain ₦25,000 monthly. Lease, electrical energy, and wages for assistants additional minimize the hang-home earnings.
Some brokers operate from rented shops, paying as much as ₦300,000 each yr, with a additional ₦30,000 monthly dispensed to operational charges, akin to energy and staffing. After deducting all these charges, the monthly earn income can topple to as low as ₦15,000 to ₦20,000 for some brokers, especially in excessive-price metropolis environments. Then again, lease price is more affordable must you operate below puny umbrellas – and they also pay a every day or weekly stipend for the placement.
A Business of Risks
With the exception of charges, point-of-sale (PoS) brokers face fundamental risks. The persona of their business makes them frequent targets for robbery and fraud.
Deceptive alerts, delayed transaction reversals, and technical system defects can also merely finish up in fundamental financial losses. In difference to dilapidated banks, PoS brokers in most cases operate with tiny institutional reinforce when something goes sinful.
Accrued, the business endures, and even flourishes, thanks to Nigeria’s ongoing dependence on physical cash. Forex held outside Nigeria’s banking arrangement surged to ₦4.6 trillion in March 2025, according to the Central Financial institution of Nigeria (CBN), representing 91.9% of the total ₦5 trillion in circulation for the interval.
The PoS business in Nigeria is profitable, but potentially now not in the methodology most think. It’s a grind. It requires consistency, wise plot choices, and cautious price management.
