THE NEW NAIRA NOTE DESIGN AND THE RISE IN THE USE OF POS IN SMALL SCALE BUSINESSES

ABSTRACT This study was carried out to investigate the new naira note design and the rise in the use of POS on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs). The specific objectives were; to investigate the effect of new naira note on Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs): to assess the perception of small and medium scale enterprises owners towards the new naira note policy; to identify the challenges faced by Small and Medium Scale enterprises (SMEs) owners as a result of the effect of naira redesign on agency banking and to examine how the naira note redesign as contributed to the emergence of POS by Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) owners. In direct effort to achieve the objective of the study, four research questions were raised to guide the study. Descriptive survey research design was used for this study. Simple random sampling technique was used to randomly select two hundred (200) respondents. A well-structured and self-constructed questionnaire was the instrument used to collect data. The researcher personally visited all respondents to administer the questionnaire and orientate them about the purpose of the research. Data collected from respondents were statistically analyzed using frequency count and simple percentage. The findings revealed that the introduction of the new naira-note contributed to a decrease in sales for small and medium scale businesses which initially disrupted economic activities, leading to a temporary decline in sales. Further findings revealed that there are diverse perceptions among SME owners regarding the new naira note policy most respondents believed that the redesign aimed to encourage online and mobile banking while discouraging carrying too much cash resonates with global trends in financial digitization. Further findings also revealed that the challenges faced by SME owners due to the effect of naira redesign on agency banking, including poor banking network, inadequate cash flow, and delayed transaction confirmations, are consistent with broader challenges faced by businesses in emerging economies. It was also revealed that the naira note redesign contributed to the emergence of Point of Sale (POS) systems among SME owners aligns with the global trend toward electronic payment systems, while the research of the hypothesis revealed the revealed that there is a significant relationship between naira redesign and the rise in the use of pos among small, medium scale businesses. [r (200) = 0.417; p