Claim: A Facebook user claims that OPay is giving out free point of sale (POS) terminals.
Our findings revealed that OPay is not currently giving out free POS terminals. Although it recently did for promotional purposes, the campaign had ended since the first week of July. Therefore, the claim is misleading.
Full Text
Recently, a Facebook user named Atoshu Elias took to a Facebook page named “NIGERIA POLICE FORCE ALONE” in which he announced that OPay is giving out free POS terminals. With an additional free registration promise, he also instructed interested users to comment with their locations and phone number.
His post reads: “OPAY COMPANY IS GIVING AWAY FREE POS MACHINE, INTRESTED PEOPLE SHOULD DROP THEIR NUMBER AND LOCATION REGISTRATION IS FREE.”
However, without doubting this claim, 60 individuals quickly indicated interest and registered their private information in the comment section.
OPay is a Nigeria-based mobile money platform that offers deposit and withdrawal services to its customers.
As stated on its website, it is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria and has spread its services across all 36 states of the country, since its launching in 2018.
With POS business now becoming a popular source of income in Nigeria, it is not out of place for Nigerians to jump on opportunities such as this. Moreover, DUBAWA has observed that scammers usually adopt this format to dupe unsuspecting members of the public. Hence, the reason for this fact-check.
Verification
Firstly, DUBAWA checked the verified Facebook page of the company but found no related information. For the same purpose, we also visited the company’s website but no “giveaway” news was found.
DUBAWA then emailed Hanson Olorunfemi, the Communications Manager of OPay. He confirmed that the firm recently gave out “free MPOS (Mini POS) terminals” to their potential agents across the country.
He, however, noted that this promotional campaign has ended since the “first week of July 2022.”
“The potential agent can download the OPay app and apply for the POS terminal, the agent will be assigned to an aggregator who will then issue a POS terminal to the agent.
“To be Eligible, you must have a physical business location and must have updated KYC requirements to KYC 3. Third party in this case will be an OPay accredited Aggregator,” Mr Olorunfemi further explained.
Conclusion
Our findings show that OPay is not giving out free POS terminals at the moment. Although it recently did for promotional purposes, the campaign ended since the first week of July.
