CAC to shut down unregistered PoS operators

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has issued a stern warning and announced a nationwide enforcement campaign against Point-of-Sale (PoS) operators who are running businesses without proper registration, setting a mandatory deadline of January 1, 2026.

In a statement released on its Instagram page on Saturday, the Commission noted the rising number of unregistered PoS operators is a clear violation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Agent Banking Regulations.

The CAC accused some fintech companies of enabling this illegal trend by onboarding unregistered agents, a practice it described as “reckless and dangerous to Nigeria’s financial system.”

The Commission warned that such activities expose millions of Nigerians, including small business owners and rural communities, to financial and investment risks, including those associated with cybercrime and security breaches.

The CAC’s directive makes registration compulsory for all PoS operators to continue business activities.

The statement read, in part: “Effective 1 January 2026, no PoS operator will be allowed to operate without CAC registration. Security agencies will enforce nationwide compliance. Unregistered PoS terminals will be seized or shut down by security officials.

Fintechs enabling illegal operations will be placed on the watchlist and reported to the CBN. All operators are advised to regularise immediately. Compliance is mandatory.”

This latest warning is a re-escalation of a directive initially issued in May 2024, which mandated PoS operators to register their businesses.

The initial deadline of July 7, 2024, was extended to September 5, 2024, due to low compliance rates.

The House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the Economic, Regulatory and Security Implications of PoS Operations has previously expressed concern over increasing fraud linked to the sector.

The committee noted multiple reports of unprofiled agents, cloned terminals, anonymous transactions, and weak Know-Your-Customer (KYC) practices.

The mandatory registration is part of a broader government effort to enhance traceability, curb fraud, and formalize the massive agent banking network, which accounted for over 26% of fraud incidents in 2023, according to a report by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS).

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