Operating PoS without registration is a criminal offence – CAC

The Registrar General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Hussaini Magaji (SAN), has revealed that all financial technology operators (Fintechs) must register with the commission before July 7, 2023, noting that operating without registration is a crime according to the provisions of the law.

Magaji made the disclosure at the formal unveiling of the registration centre for agents and merchants of Fintechs by the commission in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said, “It is the requirement of the law and the guidelines which Fintechs mandate PoS operators while obtaining their machines as outlined by the CBN to register with the CAC. Therefore, operating a PoS without registering with the CAC is a crime in Nigeria and the operator ought to be jailed.

“CAC on our part are enforcing the provisions of the law which mandates every legitimate business to register with the commission either as individual, business or merchant, and the PoS operators must register, and what we are doing now is to enforce parts of the provisions of the Companies and Alllied Matters Act (CAMA).”

Speaking further, he said, “CAC was asked to penalise PoS operators who are operating without registration with a N200 form. But because of the president’s position on encouraging small businesses, we agreed that no one should be penalized, which is why we have put a time limit on a date because we have had this sensitisation since December, and by July 7, 2024, we hope to close.”

Magaji added that the registration of all POS merchants and agents across the country would go a long way in reducing crime in the country.

He said, “We have a situation where ransom is paid with POS terminals, so with the registration, we will bring out the people whose machines were used to perpetrate the crime, because the CAC will capture all your information.”

He further noted that the registration centre would be open for 24 hours for Fintechs that might want to register manually, adding that the CAC had already created a structure for the Fintechs on the commission’s portal for ease of registration, where the certificate would be automatically generated and sent to their platform.