FG orders registration of 1.9 million PoS operators.
In compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s guidelines and regulatory requirements, point-of-sale enterprises have two months to register their agents, merchants, and persons with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
A deal was reached on Monday in Abuja between fintechs and Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, the Registrar-General of the CAC.
Nationwide, retailers and consumers have installed more than 1.9 million PoS terminals, according to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System.
Speaking during the meeting, the CAC head said that the action is meant to boost the economy and safeguard the companies of Fintech’s clients.
The Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAMA 2020, Section 863, Subsection 1 and the 2013 CBN guidelines on agent banking all equally supported the action, he stressed.
According to the CAC head, the registration deadline—which expires on July 7, 2024—was really intended to safeguard corporations rather than any one group or person.
“The Corporate Affairs Commission and fintech companies in Nigeria, better known as PoS operators, have agreed to a two-month timeline to register their agents, merchants, and individuals with the CAC in accordance with legal requirements and the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria,” the commission said in a statement.
“The agreement was achieved today by Fintechs and Hussaini Ishaq Magaji, the Registrar-General, CAC, in Abuja.”
This latest decision was issued in the context of regular fraud cases involving point-of-sale machines and proposals by the Central Bank of Nigeria to cease trading in virtual currencies, including bitcoin. A fraud study by Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc found that POS terminals would be responsible for 26.37 percent of fraud cases in 2023.
Major fintech companies like Kuda, Opay, PalmPay, and Moniepoint were ordered by the CBN last week to stop onboarding new clients and to warn their users against trading in cryptocurrency or any other virtual currency on their apps. The CBN also threatened to block any accounts found engaging in such activities.
Coexisting with the CBN’s action was a continuing assessment of the fintechs’ Know-Your-Customer processes, which have drawn criticism lately over concerns about terrorism funding and money laundering.
Before the CBN’s order, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had gotten a court order freezing at least 1,146 bank accounts held by different people and businesses that were purportedly engaged in illicit foreign exchange operations.
OPay announced on Friday that it will take severe action against clients who break its rules, which aligns with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s stance on bitcoin trading.
Several fintech sector speakers also promised to work with the commission to guarantee the directive’s seamless execution, according to the release.
To make sure the exercise produced the intended outcomes, some of them, nevertheless, emphasised the requirement of sufficient and group sensitization.