How to choose a POS agent you can find again

The short answer

Use the same agent repeatedly, in a fixed location, who gives you the terminal receipt. Nearly every unresolved POS dispute in Nigeria involves an agent the customer had never used before and could not find again.

What a good agent looks like

• A fixed spot with a signboard. A shop, a kiosk, a consistent umbrella in a consistent place. If a transaction fails, you need somewhere to return to tomorrow.
• Visible branding of the bank or fintech they work under. Agents operate on behalf of institutions authorised under the CBN's agent banking framework. A properly onboarded agent is representing somebody and is usually willing to say who.
• Charges displayed, or stated before the transaction. You should know the fee before you hand over the card, not after the cash is counted.
• They print or show the terminal receipt without being asked. This is the single most useful habit to select for.
• They have float and admit when they do not. An agent who says "I do not have cash right now" is more useful than one who starts a transaction hoping it works out.

The failed transaction that still debits you

This is the common failure and it is worth understanding, because the panic makes people behave badly at exactly the wrong moment.

Your bank has debited your account and the agent's terminal did not confirm the transaction succeeded. From the agent's side, no money arrived, so handing you cash means paying you out of their own float on your word. From your side, the money has left. Both of you are telling the truth.

1. Do not let them retry until you have checked. A second attempt is how a single failed withdrawal becomes a double debit.
2. Get the terminal receipt or a photograph of the screen, including the terminal ID, the amount and the time.
3. Record the agent's phone number and location. Take a photograph of the shop if you have never used them before.
4. Report to your own bank the same day, in the app and in writing. Failed-transaction reversals are a standard process and most resolve automatically, but the clock starts when you report.
5. Go back the next day if it has not reversed. A settled agent will usually check their own end. This is exactly why the fixed location matters.

Transfers to an agent

Where you are transferring rather than using a card, the account name is the check. It should be the agent's registered business name or an account they can plausibly explain. Send a small amount first if the sum is large and the agent is new to you.

Never send money on the promise that cash will be handed over "after the alert" by someone with no fixed location. That is the same structural risk as paying any unverified business, with a smaller amount and the same ending.

What to do about a bad agent

Complain first to the bank or fintech whose branding the agent carries, because the agent is acting on their behalf and they have a relationship to protect. Escalate to your own bank for anything involving your account. The CBN operates a consumer protection route for unresolved banking complaints once the institution has had a fair chance to fix it.

Bottom line

Pick one agent with a shop and a signboard, use them repeatedly, always take the receipt, enter your own PIN, and never allow a retry before checking your balance. The network works well when you are a regular and badly when you are a stranger, which is a choice you get to make.