By Emmanuel Ogbodo<\/p>\n
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has extended the registration deadline for Fintech Operators, specifically Point of Sales (PoS) Operators, from July 7, 2024, to September 5, 2024. This extension grants an additional 60 days for the registration of sole Agents, Super Agents, and Agents.<\/p>\n
In a public notice dated July 7, 2024, the CAC stated that the extension aims to assist operators, particularly those in remote areas who have encountered network challenges during the registration process. The notice also issued a stern warning to operators who fail to register within the new deadline.<\/p>\n
\u201cOperators who fail or refuse to register at the end of the extended deadline run the risk of losing their businesses and may face prosecution for aiding and abetting criminal activities,\u201d the notice warned.<\/p>\n
This extension is viewed as a significant step to ensure all PoS Operators comply with regulatory requirements while addressing the technical difficulties that have delayed timely registration. The CAC reaffirmed its commitment to facilitating a smooth registration process for all operators to enhance the efficiency and security of financial services in the country.<\/p>\n
Earlier in May, the CAC set a July 7, 2024, registration deadline for PoS agents of major fintech companies in Nigeria, including OPay, Palmpay, and Moniepoint, among others. The Registrar-General of the CAC, Hussaini Magaji, announced that this deadline was agreed upon with PoS operators following a meeting in Abuja.<\/p>\n
Magaji mentioned that the registrations align with legal requirements and directives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He added that the action is also supported by Section 863, Subsection 1 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020, as well as the 2013 CBN guidelines on agent banking.<\/p>\n
Following this, the CAC began an enrollment exercise for PoS agents and operators in Nigeria. The launch event also marked the opening of a 24-hour service centre aimed at providing prompt responses and resolutions for PoS operators’ registration issues.<\/p>\n
In response, the National Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria announced plans to challenge the legality of the mandatory business registration order issued by the CAC in court. The association’s President, Fasasi Atanda, criticised the directive, stating:<\/p>\n
\u201cCBN is right, there\u2019s no issue, the memo is clear, it only applies to non-individuals, unlike the Corporate Affairs Commission who generalised. We are in discussions with our lawyer and a league of human rights lawyers, whose identities we are currently not disclosing.\u201d<\/p>\n
In another interview, Atanda again criticised the CBN’s attempt to regulate the mobile money and banking agency sector, arguing that the CAC lacks an understanding of the industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat people see as just PoS is actually an industry. It’s part of a financial inclusion agenda. Over 300 local governments in Nigeria lack bank branches, and the largest transactions occur in the informal sector. This population is excluded. So the PoS agents you see are meant to bridge the gap. The CAC’s actions are seen as an attack on financial inclusion in Nigeria, which is concerning many stakeholders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Emmanuel Ogbodo The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has extended the registration deadline for Fintech Operators, specifically Point of Sales (PoS) Operators, from July 7, 2024, to September 5, 2024. This extension grants an additional 60 days for the registration of sole Agents, Super Agents, and Agents. In a public notice dated July 7, 2024, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37923,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37922\/revisions\/37923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}