Jumhouria bank launches POS service

By Libya Herald reporter.

Tunis, 22 January 2016:

The Jumhouria bank has this week launched the Point of Sale (POS) electronic payment system in many regions of Libya.

The bank is encouraging Libyan commercial enterprises to take advantage of the service.

In the short term the service will be offered in the Tripoli, Zawiya, Misrata, Gharian, Benghazi, and the south.

The POS service can be used with Jumhouria bank debit cards including the student card, as well debit cards from other local banks. However, visa cards are not accepted by the system.

The POS service relies on enabling infrastructure such as uninterrupted power supply and telephone links. Jumhouria bank say their system works on either of the two mobile networks, Madar and Libyana.

There has not been a history of use of electronic POS services in Libya and Jumhouria bank will have to launch a campaign to educate both the Libya commercial retailers as well as the consumers into using electronic payments.

Libya has been very much a cash-based society. However, since the 2011 revolution and the economic difficulties that the country has found itself in, the Libyan public has been driven by the high black market foreign exchange rate into widely using debit cards in order to take advantage of their preferential exchange rates..

The increased insecurity in the country in the form of bank raids, kidnappings as well as the bank cash shortages that occur from time to time may encourage the Libyan public into using electronic POS payments rather than using cash.

However, the availability of electricity to operate the POS and the needed mobile lines may be the deciding factors. [/restrict]