The Corporate Affairs Commission’s new compliance directive for Point of Sale (PoS) operators has triggered sharp divisions among stakeholders in Nigeria’s mobile money sector, setting the stage for a regulatory showdown that could reshape the country’s agent-banking landscape.
Last week, the CAC announced that all PoS operators must obtain CAC registration before January 1, 2026, warning that unregistered terminals would be seized and operators shut down.
The Commission said the move is necessary to curb the rising number of unregistered agents, a trend it described as dangerous to the financial system and a violation of both the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 and CBN’s agent-banking guidelines.
“This reckless practice, often enabled by some fintech companies, puts Nigeria’s financial system and citizens’ investments at risk,” the CAC said, adding that security agencies will enforce nationwide compliance and fintechs found enabling non-compliant operators will be placed on a watchlist.
However, the directive has drawn mixed reactions. While one of the sector’s trade groups, Association of Digital Payment and PoS Operators of Nigeria (ADPPON), supports the plan, albeit with conditions, the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN) has strongly rejected the move, accusing the CAC of exceeding its mandate and threatening financial inclusion.
AMMBAN kicks against ‘multiple registration’
Speaking with Nairametrics, AMMBAN’s National President, Fasasi Sharafadeen, said the directive is unnecessary, out of scope, and potentially unconstitutional.
According to him, PoS operators already undergo the most extensive onboarding and verification requirements among informal businesses.
“Every POS agent is well registered with his or her respective financial institution, and the device is concurrently registered with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System. No other business has such layers of profiling,” he said.
Sharafadeen questioned the CAC’s justification that the mandate is needed to prevent fraud. He argued that several registered companies under the CAC have been involved in fraud without CAC documentation mitigating the problem.
He added that security issues within the PoS industry are already being tackled by established frameworks led by the CBN, DSS, Police, EFCC, and industry associations.
“In fact, there is a joint task force sanctioned by the Inspector General of Police, currently sharing intelligence on various fraudulent practices under my leadership,” he noted, insisting that the CAC should focus on improving its registration portal and the high rate of business closures in Nigeria.
- He further argued that the directive contradicts CBN’s own guidelines on agent banking. Citing CAMA 2020 and CBN regulatory provisions, he said only non-individual agents, such as business names and enterprises, are mandated to register with the CAC, while individuals operating under personal names are exempt.
- Sharafadeen warned that unless the CAC withdraws its threat, AMMBAN may return to court to enforce what it describes as the fundamental rights of individual agents.
ADPPON backs CAC’s intent
In contrast, the Association of Digital Payment and POS Operators of Nigeria (ADPPON) expressed support for the federal government’s attempt to sanitize the PoS ecosystem.
Its National President, Paul Okafor, in a statement issued to Nairametrics, said the surge in fraud, kidnapping, cash-outs, and illicit flows justifies a structured cleanup.
- According to him, industry data presented to the National Assembly during a recent public hearing shows that financial-sector fraud jumped from N17.67 billion in 2023 to N52.26 billion in 2024, with PoS operators increasingly targeted.
- Okafor said the association has repeatedly raised concerns about these risks and supports measures that strengthen accountability.
- But ADPPON warned that CAC cannot succeed through unilateral directives. Past enforcement failures, Okafor said, stemmed from the lack of a coordinated, multi-agency approach involving the CBN, Police, fintechs, and operators.
The association called for the creation of a multi-agency task force to jointly develop a harmonized compliance timeline, a national operator-verification framework, sensitization programmes, and an implementation roadmap that protects livelihoods while enhancing security.
“Millions of Nigerians rely on POS services daily. Sanitizing the ecosystem must go hand-in-hand with protecting small businesses that power financial inclusion,” ADPPON stated.
Backstory
In May last year, the CAC announced that PoS agents of major fintechs in Nigeria, including OPay, Palmpay, and Moniepoint, among others, had been given a deadline of July 7, 2024 to register their business.
- The Registrar-General of the CAC, Hussaini Magaji, who announced this, said this was the agreement with the PoS operators after a meeting in Abuja.
- According to him, the registration is also in line with the legal requirements and the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
- With many PoS operators complaining about difficulties in getting their registration done on the Commission’s portal, CAC later extended the deadline to September 5, 2024.
- According to the Commission at the time, any operator that failed to meet the new deadline would face prosecution and risk losing the business.
- However, the new deadline issued over a year after the previous deadline indicated clearly that many PoS operators in the country are still unregistered.
