EFCC WARNING: POS TERMINALS BECOME MONEY-LAUNDERING GATEWAYS

• Nigeria’s anti-graft agency says weak records, poor operator screening and inadequate oversight of PoS agents are creating channels for fraud, ransom payments, terrorist financing and money laundering.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has warned Point of Sale operators across Nigeria against allowing their terminals to facilitate financial crimes, saying investigations have linked PoS channels to money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud and ransom payments.

EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede issued the warning through his Chief of Staff, Michael Nzekwe, during a meeting with the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria.

The commission said the sector needs a stronger structure and comprehensive framework capable of maintaining records of operators and their activities so investigators can trace suspicious transactions.

Nzekwe questioned whether operators have adequate records of their members, including their addresses, and called for stronger training and oversight. The EFCC also said some PoS operators allegedly participate directly in fraud by aiding or conspiring with criminals.

The compliance concern extends beyond the terminal itself.

If investigators cannot establish who operates a terminal, who controls the underlying account, where the operator is located or who conducted a transaction, the PoS channel becomes a significant traceability weakness in the financial system.

The warning comes against a wider registration gap. In June, the Corporate Affairs Commission said only about 20 percent of PoS operators were registered with it, raising concerns about the ability of authorities to build a reliable operator database.

For banks, fintechs and payment companies, the EFCC warning puts pressure on KYC, agent due diligence, transaction monitoring, record-keeping and suspicious-transaction escalation.

The central question is now blunt: who is behind the terminal when criminal money moves through it?