Hola,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Nigerian POS agents set for showdown with Verve and Interswitch
- Orange Liberia hit with $21,880 fine over unauthorised SIM swap
- SA to close crypto loophole after court ruling
Nigerian POS agents set for showdown with Verve and Interswitch
Nigeria’s POS operators are drawing a line in the sand, and this time their fight isn’t with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) but with Verve International and Interswitch. The Association of Point of Sale Service Providers has threatened to stop accepting and processing Verve card transactions nationwide unless regulators step in over what it calls anti-competitive and unlawful exclusivity practices. In a formal petition to both the CBN and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), the group warned that a shutdown of Verve transactions could be its next move if the issue remains unresolved.
The dispute centres on allegations that Verve and its parent company, Interswitch, are using their dominant position in Nigeria’s payments ecosystem to lock out competitors and force exclusive arrangements on operators. The association argues that such practices violate existing CBN regulations as well as the FCCPC Act. Given Verve’s massive footprint across Nigeria’s agent banking network, any disruption to its transactions would be felt almost immediately by millions of cardholders who rely on POS agents for cash withdrawals and everyday payments.
This comes after, on May 29, 2026, the CBN extended the deadline for enforcing its mandatory POS terminal geo-fencing framework to August 1, giving payment service providers more time to comply with the new requirements. In August 2025, the regulator directed all payment operators to geo-tag their POS terminals within 60 days as part of efforts to combat fraud and strengthen oversight of digital payments under ISO 20022 standards. The CBN has also eased compliance by increasing the allowable geo-fence radius for PoS terminals from 10 metres to 70 metres.
Meanwhile, the timing of the dispute couldn’t be worse. Nigeria’s POS industry is already struggling under a wave of new regulations. Operators are grappling with the CBN’s controversial single-principal rule, mandatory CAC registration, geo-fencing requirements, transaction limits, and ongoing disputes around airtime lending services. Many operators say the combined effect of these policies is putting enormous pressure on businesses that have become a crucial part of the country’s financial infrastructure.
That infrastructure is now bigger than ever. POS terminals processed more than ₦10 trillion in the first quarter of 2025 alone, while an estimated two million agents operate across the country. For many Nigerians, especially in rural communities and underserved areas, POS agents have effectively replaced bank branches and ATMs as the primary gateway to financial services. Any major disruption to the network could leave millions struggling to access cash or complete basic transactions.
At the heart of the controversy is a broader debate about competition and control within Nigeria’s fast-growing payments sector. While the CBN says its recent policies are aimed at reducing fraud, improving oversight, and closing regulatory loopholes, critics argue they are concentrating too much power in the hands of a few dominant players. Whether regulators move quickly to address the Verve-Interswitch allegations could determine if this remains a corporate dispute or escalates into another nationwide payments crisis.
Victoria Fakiya – Senior Writer
Techpoint Digest
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Orange Liberia hit with $21,880 fine over unauthorised SIM swap
A single customer has forced one of Liberia’s biggest telecom companies into an unprecedented reckoning. The Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) has fined Orange Liberia L$4 million ($21,880) after finding the company responsible for unlawfully reissuing a subscriber’s SIM card to another person without her knowledge or consent. The case, brought by Zelah Johnson, has quickly become one of the most significant consumer protection victories in Liberia’s telecom sector.
Johnson’s nightmare began on February 7, 2024, when her phone number suddenly stopped working while she was in class. What initially seemed like a routine network issue turned out to be something much more serious: her SIM card had been transferred to another individual. According to the LTA’s investigation, the unauthorised transfer allowed someone else to gain access to her WhatsApp account, Apple ID, personal communications, and other digital services connected to her phone number, effectively taking control of a large part of her digital identity.
The regulator’s ruling didn’t stop at imposing a financial penalty. The LTA also ordered Orange Liberia to identify both the employee involved in the transaction and the person who received the SIM card. Investigators found that company procedures were breached and staff credentials were improperly used during the reissuance process. The decision sends a strong message that telecom operators can no longer quietly handle SIM swap incidents behind closed doors without public accountability.
The case is especially important because phone numbers have become the keys to people’s digital lives. In Liberia, where mobile money, messaging platforms, email accounts, and identity verification services are often linked to a single phone number, losing control of that number can have devastating consequences. Consumer advocates say many subscribers never pursue complaints because they believe challenging large corporations is expensive, difficult, or unlikely to succeed.
After more than a year of legal proceedings, Johnson’s persistence paid off. Her victory is now being viewed as a landmark decision for digital rights and consumer protection in Liberia. At a time when African countries are grappling with growing concerns over privacy, cybersecurity, and data protection, the ruling reinforces a simple but powerful principle: telecom companies have a responsibility to protect customers’ identities, and when they fail, they can be held accountable.
SA to close crypto loophole after court ruling
South Africa’s crypto industry got a major surprise when a high court ruled that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not “currency” under the country’s exchange control laws. The case stemmed from a dispute involving Standard Bank, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), and a company called Leo Cash and Carry, which had transferred more than 4,400 Bitcoin, worth roughly R556 million, to a Seychelles-based exchange. The court sided with Standard Bank, saying it would be impractical to classify crypto as currency because it isn’t legal tender and exists as digital code rather than traditional money.
The ruling created a potentially massive loophole in South Africa’s exchange control system. If crypto isn’t considered currency or capital under existing regulations, then moving it across borders may not require SARB approval. That outcome immediately raised alarm bells for regulators, who have long viewed cryptocurrencies as a potential route for capital to leave the country outside established monitoring systems. While SARB has appealed the decision, the government decided not to wait for the courts to have the final word.
In his February 2026 Budget Speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced plans to bring crypto assets directly into South Africa’s exchange control framework through new regulations. Shortly afterwards, SARB’s Financial Surveillance Department confirmed the move in Exchange Control Circular No. 3 of 2026. The proposed changes could require South Africans to use their existing offshore allowances when transferring crypto to foreign exchanges or non-residents, with larger transfers potentially needing SARB approval.
The stakes are high because South Africa has one of the largest crypto user bases in the world. More than 5.8 million South Africans are estimated to own digital assets, driven by everything from investment opportunities to concerns about currency volatility. For regulators, the concern is simple: crypto makes it easier to move value across borders without going through traditional banking channels. For crypto users and businesses, however, additional exchange control rules could increase compliance costs and reduce some of the flexibility that made digital assets attractive in the first place.The bigger challenge is that South Africa still hasn’t fully settled what crypto actually is from a legal standpoint. The FSCA treats it as a financial product, SARS taxes it as an asset, and SARB wants to regulate it under exchange control rules. The High Court ruling exposed those inconsistencies, and the government’s response has been to change the law rather than rely solely on the appeal process. The next battleground will be the draft regulations themselves, which will need to define crypto clearly enough to withstand the same legal scrutiny that just undermined SARB’s case in court.
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Have a great June ahead!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
