Barely 72 hours after the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) directed Point of Sale (PoS) operators in the country to register their trade names for easy identification, some agents of the digital transaction devices have rued the directive, based on what they termed the cost implications for their businesses.
The CAC had on Monday issued a two-month registration deadline to PoS operators to register their agents, merchants, and individuals with the commission in line with legal requirements and the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Specifically, the commission maintained that the registration was aimed at safeguarding the businesses of Fintech’s customers and strengthening the economy and set July 7, 2024 deadline for full compliance by all operators.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted some of the operators as saying that since the registration will require money, it will increase their costs, which they eventually push to the customers, thereby increasing their cost of transactions.
One of the Abuja-based PoS agents, Mr Kofi Kolawole, expressed concern that the registration would deplete the profits in the business and may also discourage people from engaging in the business.
He said: “I know that this registration when actualised by our operators will increase the amount they charge us.
This means that the cost we charge on each transaction will increase, so our customers will bear the cost”, Kolawole added.
Another PoS operator, Mr. Clement Agbasi, said the directive negated the financial inclusion initiative of the CBN.
According to him, the directive will cause many customers to save their cash at home rather than being charged heavily for their online transactions.
Agbasi explained: “The PoS business was geared toward bringing the banks closer to the unbanked and making it easier for them. With all these charges including the 0.5 per cent cyber-security levy on customers, many people will be discouraged from putting their monies in banks.”
Another digital payment device operator, Miss Loretta Ubong, said that though the registration was desirable, it must be done in a way that would not be detrimental to the operators’ businesses.
To ensure this, Ubong urged the CAC to conduct the registration in line with best practices.
She said: “I am a student and I use the proceeds from this business to pay my bills. The Commission should not do the registration in a way that will kill my business.”
A customer of the PoS agents, Mrs Ndidiamaka Ibe, expressed her optimism that the registration would help to check financial frauds and sharp practices perpetrated with PoS.
She recalled that she was a victim of one-chance and that during her ordeal, over N2 million was withdrawn from a PoS.
Ibe recalled: “When I got to my bank, they could not trace the owner of the PoS.
“I think that what the Federal Government is trying to do is to check things like this so that when fraud is perpetrated by a PoS agent, he or she can be easily traced”, she added.
