The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has urged financial institutions to guarantee compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive mandating the registration of Point of Sale operators in the country.
In a statement titled ‘ENFORCEMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA DIRECTIVE ON REGISTRATION BEFORE ONBOARDING’ issued on Thursday, CAC stated that it had asked banks to ensure registration by July 7, 2024.
According to the CAC, in a letter to all concerned banks, the Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer, CAC, Hussaini Magaji (SAN), stated that the directive was consistent with Section 863(1) of CAMA and the CBN guidelines for Agent Banking, 2013.
The CBN had earlier, through a memo issued on April 30, 2024, directed all non-individuals on the Agent Banking Authorization, to immediately take steps to register their businesses with the CAC in line with Section 863 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020.
The directive made it mandatory for PoS terminals whether as agents, merchants or individuals, to register with CAC before commencement of business.
“The Registrar-General therefore enjoined the banks to ensure maximum compliance with the requirements of the law to ensure economic growth,” the CBN statement added.
Magaji during an event in Abuja on Wednesday, said mandatory registration of Point-of-Sales operators nationwide, will reduce kidnapping and help security agencies arrest recipients of ransom payments from kidnap victims.
PoS terminals accounted for 26.37 per cent of fraud incidents in 2023, according to a fraud report by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc.
Last week, the CBN stopped major fintech firms like Kuda, Opay, PalmPay and Moniepoint from onboarding new customers. The fintech firms later warned their customers against trading in cryptocurrency or any virtual currency on their apps, threatening to block any accounts found engaging in such activities.