THE INFLUENCE OF POS BANKING ON CHURCHES IN NIGERIA

1.1 Introduction

Point of sale (POS) Banking on Churches refers to the place where a church members executes the payment for tithe and offering. Church accounting in recent time has become inevitable owing to widespread proliferation of churches and the attendant economic as well as financial activities engendered by these churches. Church accounting mainly consists of fund accounting. This policy is designed to provide guidelines for capital and special projects or programs which are funded through pledges, gifts, donations etc and their accounting treatments (Louis, 2007). Churches have historically relied heavily on volunteer assistance and volunteers are often given accounting or management duties for which they have little or no qualification at all or sometimes the church has very little money budgeted for a key position, that highly qualified people have no interest applying.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

The church and the modern technologies seem to be ever more connected as we move further into the twenty-first century” (Hoover 2006). This assertion clearly defines the link between religious belief and the new information and communication technologies which are the most defining media instruments of the twenty-first century. ICT driven technologies can be applied in virtually all areas of the church activities including the payment system (Ovia, 2005). However, different types of payment are done by members in the church. Examples of common payments done during church service includes tithe, general offering, special offering, thanksgiving, harvest, covenant offering, offering for the less privileged/needy, building construction donations etc.

The role and importance of efficient payment systems has been closely monitored and promoted by monetary authorities in all countries. However, the Nigerian payment system that is cash-driven cannot and has not guaranteed the much needed efficient and effective transactions required for a sustainable economic development. Among the problems often associated with cash transactions are armed robberies, use of counterfeit bank notes, frauds, inconveniences of carrying large quantities of currency notes, long period of waiting in bank halls, frequent trips to banks, frequent printing of bank notes (Nnanna and Ajayi, 2005). However, churches in Nigeria are beginning to key in into this cashless system of payment by incorporating modern and cashless method of payment especially the use of POS.

Point-of-sale (POS) systems have always been around in many forms for a number of years now. Many businesses use these systems not only to accept payment, but to provide other operational information such as accounting, sales tracking, and inventory management. Thus far, this system has gone a long way in improving customer’s experience through customer loyalty programs and suggestions in businesses (Ojo, 2004). Nowadays, the use of POS system is not only available in business set ups but also in churches which have gone a long way in impacting churches. Though for a number of reasons in Nigeria, there has been various arguments and criticisms among Christians that the use of POS system in church is ungodly and this has been one of the major challenges faced by the use of this system in Nigerian churches. Some church executives in Nigeria has come to say that the banks offered it to the church and since the world was going digital, the members should try and also fit in. They also say it would ease the stress of looking for change every Sunday and for those who forget to bring money to church.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Influence of POS Banking on Churches in Nigeria.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that the reliance on cash based system of donation and offering in churches has however been found to be risky and cumbersome because money outside the banks cannot be subjected to regulatory and operational procedures, and the ability of monetary policy to achieve set objectives in the presence of sizeable currency out of Bank (COB) is therefore limited.

Hence, many churches make use of POS for offering and donation collection from members to prevent the risks involved in carrying cash about. This cash carrying character of Nigerians is also responsible for large pool of money in the hands of the unbanked citizens. No research has been carried on the impact of POS on churches. However, the researcher is examining the impact of POS on churches.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the Influence of POS Banking on Churches in Nigeria using House on the Rock Church, Uyo as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine the existing payment method/system in churches;
2. To examine the impact of POS on churches; and
3. To examine the limitations of POS on church payment system.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What are the existing payment methods/systems in churches?
• What is the impact of POS on churches?
• What are the limitations of POS on church payment system?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: The use of POS in churches does not promote efficiency and accountability
• H1: The use of POS in churches promotes efficiency and accountability

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1.7 Significance of Study

The findings from this study will educate church authorities and executives and the general public in Nigeria on how they can key in to the CBN cashless policy to promote efficiency in the churches.

This research will also serve as a resource base to other scholars and researchers interested in carrying out further research in this field subsequently, if applied will go to an extent to provide new explanation to the topic.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Influence of POS Banking on Churches in Nigeria using House on the Rock Church, Uyo as a case study. This study will cover the existing payment structures in churches with comparison to the modern payment system of POS considering the benefits of POS in the collection of offering and donations in churches.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

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1.10 Definition of Terms

Accounts Receivable: Amounts owed to a business (an asset), usually by customers who purchased goods or services on credit.

Additional markdown: An increase of a previous markdown to further lower the selling price.

Adjustment: An increase or decrease to the quantity indicated in the retail software package. The adjustment ensures that the records in the retail software match the actual physical quantity in inventory.

Drawer Fund: The amount of money left in a drawer after the drawer has been closed. The drawer fund is typically used to provide startup money (change) for the next business day.

Employee Discount: A reduction in selling price on merchandise sold to an employee.

Warranty: A written guarantee of a manufacturer's or retailer's responsibility. A limited warranty provides specific conditions under which a manufacturer or retailer will repair or replace an item.

Cash Drawer: a box attached to point of sales system that opens when directed by the software.

Credit card: it is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and service from certain establishment.

Drawer Fund: The amount of money left in a drawer after the drawer has been closed. The drawer fund is typically used to provide startup money (change) for the next business day.