The Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria has blamed the low turnout for the registration of Point of Sale operators across the country on the ongoing case the association has against the Corporate Affairs Commission.
The Federal Government through the CAC had previously set a two-month deadline for PoS companies to register their agents, merchants, and individuals with the Commission in compliance with legal requirements and the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria to reduce fraud within the system, combat kidnapping and the payment of ransoms.
The registration deadline was initially scheduled for July 7, 2024, and later shifted to September 5.
However, after the registration deadline, the CAC expressed concern over the inadequate compliance with the directive, despite the large number of POS operators in the country.
Reacting to the CAC’s statement, the National President of the association, Sarafadeen Fasasi, described the move by the CAC to clamp down on the association members who were yet to register with the commission as illegal.
Fasasi said, “We have members in the two segments of agency banking. We have sub-agents and registered businesses. Those that are registered businesses are even over 60 per cent before the CAC came out with that policy and it’s only about 40 per cent that are sub-agents.
“We are in the court with them to say that they cannot force those to register with them and that is the outcome of what you are seeing. We are not just fighting for the 40 per cent.
“We are fighting the illegality because if they succeed with POS, they will also go and implement the same policy on our traders in the markets like garri, and Pepper sellers because the POS people are not different from them. We are in the same space and that policy imposed on them is not about the interests of the country or payments. It is about cash out. They just want to make revenue and share the money.”
Meanwhile, when contacted for reactions, the Director of Press, Dominic Inyang, insisted on remaining silent on the matter.(Punch)
