Internet Fraud: Interswitch Sensitises Agents on Compliance to FG Directive on Business Registration

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Interswitch, a broadband network and robust payments platform has sensitised its agents across the country on the need to adhere to the federal government regulatory policy on compliance to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) documentation.
Interswitch is largely seen as a leading player with critical mass in Africa’s rapidly developing financial ecosystem and is active across the payments value chain, providing a full suite of omni-channel payment solutions.

Speaking at a one-day sensitisation programme for its agents in Port Harcourt and other locations in Rivers State, the Interswitch regional manager for South Region, Emmanuel Nwokocha, said the aim of the programme was to ensure that people operating on their space are within the law.
Nwokocha who noted the level of fraudulent activities ongoing in the financial sector, especially as it affects electronics financial transactions, said compliance to the regulatory policy by registering with the CAC will improve the integrity of the agents and their organisation, also improve on service delivery.

He assured the agents that for registering their businesses with the CAC, they will have benefit of 50 percent discount in each registration.
He said: “This is Interswitch Financial Inclusion Services event, which compliance beyond the road to financial inclusion empowerment. So, what we want to do here today is to have interaction with our agents and sensitise them about the regulatory policy on every agent complying with CAC documentation. Becoming a registered organization with CAC before your able to carry out agency business.

“We selected some agents in Port Harcourt and other locations together, where we have given them some subsidy. We gave them 50 percent off the registration of CAC. So, all of them that will be here today, will be registered at 50 percent slash the cost of registration.
“After that we will also have some regulator sensitisation and awareness. We are also empowering our agents, trying to ensure that people comply with the regulatory authorities. We want to make sure that people operating on our space are not out of the law and that is why we are going extra miles to sensitise our agents.

“Recently, there is increase in fraud. Fraudulent activities among the agents which is impacting negatively both on the operators and agents. So we want to check the authenticity of the agents to improve the integrity of that sector”.

He further noted the benefits of the sensitisation to include; enhance market integrity, protect against financial loss, increase customers confidence, participation in government grants and incentives, and promotes digitisation and financial inclusion with localties.
“We want to improve that confidence users have to do transaction. You have confidence that this person is known by the government, so it will improve customers confidence in that space. We are able to monitor the operation of the agents. That way we will reduce the fraud and increase confidence”.

Speaking on Quickteller paypoint, a product of Interswitch that helps to carry out the financial inclusion services, he said “It is an application we have built which we used to empower agents who are positioned in different locations both in the rural and urban areas.”