As the elders usually say, "anything good in the life will surely have it own downside." Although, this proverb is not entirely accepted by many tribes. Anyways, that's not where we're driving toward. In this article, we are going to walk you through the disadvantages of OPAY POS Machine in Nigeria so that you can know whether to continue your business with the OPay payment terminal or look for other alternatives.
In our previous article, we discussed the disadvantages of OPay POS over Moniepoint POS. In another recent one, we also discussed the benefits of Moniepoint POS. You can check them out to better understand what we are going to discuss in this article.
Disadvantages of OPAY POS
- Cost of Acquisition: It cost N45,000 to buy an OPay POS terminal in Nigeria. OPay sells it POS machine to agents outrightly, however, when you purchase the terminal with caution, then a daily target will be imposed on the payment terminal. You can learn more about OPAY POS Daily Target here.
- Customer Service for Agents: OPAY customer service for Agents are not reliable. It can take days or even weeks to get response from them when logging a dispense error or other financial support. When you compare OPAY customer service to other POS machine in Nigeria, OPay ranks lower when it comes to dedicated customer support features.
- Dependence on Internet Connectivity: Well, this is a general disadvantages for many payment terminal companies in Nigeria. Their POS system rely on internal infrastructure to cope. Now, imagine OPAY agents who operate in areas where there's poor internet infrastructure may experience frequent downtime and disruptions in service. Even though, you're using the OPAY Mini POS machine that uses your smartphone Bluetooth, you'll still need internet connection on your phone to connect to the POS server and process transactions.
For now, those are the major disadvantages of OPAY POS Machine. Now, let's dive into comparing the payment terminal to other POS machine in Nigeria.
OPAY POS vs Moniepoint POS: Which is Better?
In this section, we walk you through the comparison of OPay POS Machine and Moniepoint POS Machine so that you can decide the best one for your business in Nigeria. We use criteria including network, cost of acquiring POS terminal, POS charges, reliability, POS features, durability, customer service for agents/merchants and reconciliation to grade and compare the POS terminals. Now, let's dive in!
1. Network
Both POS machines have better network. In my opinion, I can rate them 4.5 rating out of 5 rating because they also rely on other parties to provide services to their agents and merchants. However, both the OPAY POS and Moniepoint POS are on the same level when it comes to withdrawal and transfer network in Nigeria.
2. Cost of Acquiring POS
On average, it cost N45,000 to buy an OPay POS. However, the POS device can also be sold on caution fees but you'll need to be meeting up with daily target. Meanwhile, Moniepoint POS is offered at the price of N20,000 but you'll need to be meeting up with daily target because the N20,000 you paid to get the POS is a caution fees and that's why it's relatively cheaper than the OPay POS machine.
3. Charges and Fees
In terms of charges and transaction fees, both POS machines have the same charges and fees relatively on average. OPAY charges 0.5% capped at N100 (of withdrawal amount) and Moniepoint also charges 0.5%. So, the maximum both POS charge is N100 - for instance, when you carryout withdrawal transaction that worth N20,000, you'll be charged N100 charges.
Moniepoint and OPAY charge relatively the same fees for transfer and it also worth noting that both POS give their agents and merchants discount on withdrawal and transfer based on the level they are. Well, I've seen many agents say they prefer OPAY for transfer over Moniepoint.
4. Reliability
How sure are you that you'll be able to use your terminal for business in a day when you turn ON your POS? This is what I mean by reliability. How reliable is the company - can you depend on their services? Well, in my opinion, while I give Moniepoint 4.5% rating, I'll give OPAY 4.2% rating out of 5%. Moniepoint is more reliable than OPAY POS.
5. Customer Support for Agents
Moneipoint wins the race when it comes to customer support for agents. The fintech have dedicated, more than 5 on desk for business days, customer service representatives to see into situation of it POS agents and merchants.
Infact, Moniepoint has a dedicated WhatsApp platforms with 4 to 5 dedicated customer representative for POS agents in each state in Nigeria and agents can also log transactions complains such as dispense error directly from the POS terminal.
OPAY, on the other hand, also possesses some of these stuff excluding the dedicated WhatsApp group for agents to log their complains and OPAY doesn't respond to complain faster. So, Moniepoint have a better customer service and also respond to complain more than OPAY.
6. POS Features
Both POS machines can be used to perform transactions like transfer, bill payments, withdrawal, deposit, check customer balance, ATM card transfer, log directly dispute on POS terminal, print EOD, and lot more. However, OPAY Analog POS cannot carryout Bill Payment and many agents are complaining that OPAY POS consume more printing paper. In other words, Moniepoint paper consumption is lower than OPAY POS.
7. Durability
Moniepoint is more durable than OPAY POS. While I give Moniepoint 4.2 rating, I'll give OPAY 4.0% rating on durability. Why? Although OPAY SmartPOS durability is relatively the same as Moniepoint POS but other types OPAY POS is less durable than Moniepoint POS.
8. Reconciliation
As a beginner that's not too technical and that's not get familiar with the POS, which POS will be more easy-to-use? In this term, OPAY takes the lead. If a newbie wants to check his/her transactions at the end of the day, it'll be more easy on the OPAY terminal and business app and get difficult to do than on the Moniepoint POS.
So, OPAY have a better reconciliation than Moniepoint - that's OPAY POS is more accessible and easy-to-use for beginners than the Moniepoint POS.
