How to Accept Online Payments in Nigeria Without CAC Registration

Many good businesses start with a phone, a personal bank account and a few customers. Then one customer says, "Do you have a payment link?" and the owner thinks, "I have not registered with CAC yet. Can I even do that?"

The short answer is: often yes, but only up to a limit. This article explains what is possible today, where it stops, and what to do before you reach the stop sign.

We cover the full picture of gateways in How to Accept Online Payments in Nigeria. Here we look at one narrow question: what if you are not registered yet?

The short answer

Paystack has an account type called a Starter Business. It is made for people who have not registered their business yet and want to test their idea with real customers.

At the time of writing, Paystack says you need three things to open one:

• Your Bank Verification Number (BVN).
• A bank account. A personal account is allowed.
• A valid ID, such as a national ID, driver's licence, voter's card or international passport.

You do not need a certificate of incorporation or a company bank account to start. Paystack still has to approve you, and requirements change, so read their current page before you begin.

What a Starter account cannot do

This part is important, so read it slowly. Paystack's help pages say a Starter Business has limits:

• A collection limit. The current help page says ₦8,000,000 for naira payments, and $5,000 for dollar payments. When you reach the limit, payments for your business are switched off until you upgrade to a registered business. (We also saw an older copy of the same page with a much lower naira figure. Look at your own dashboard to see the figure that applies to you.)
• Some features are missing. Starter accounts cannot use Paystack's Transfers, Terminals (card machines) or Identity Verification.

So a Starter account is a good way to start. It is not a place to stay forever.

How fast will you reach the limit?

Do a quick sum with your own numbers.

Illustrative example. These numbers are made up, only to show the method. Suppose your online sales average ₦40,000 a day. Divide the limit by your daily sales: 8,000,000 ÷ 40,000 = 200 days. If your sales double, you reach the limit in about 100 days.

Now put in your own daily sales. If the answer is less than a year, start the registration early, because you do not want your payments to stop in the middle of a busy week.

What to do before you reach the limit

1. Register your business name with CAC. For a person trading alone, registering a business name is the usual first step. A limited company is a bigger step and not always needed at the start. If you are unsure which suits you, ask an accredited agent or a lawyer.
2. Keep the documents ready. CAC papers, your ID and the details of the account where you want money paid.
3. Upgrade inside Paystack. The help pages say you change the business type under Compliance, then Profile, and add the documents that match your registration.
4. Do it early. Approval takes time, and you do not want to wait with payments switched off.

Other ways to collect money while you are unregistered

• A payment link or page. Paystack says you can make a payment page in a few minutes and share the link on WhatsApp or Instagram. This is the simplest start, and you do not need a website.
• Plain bank transfer. It works, but you must confirm every payment yourself. Read How to Confirm a Bank Transfer Is Real first, because fake alerts are common.
• Other gateways. Each one has its own rules for unregistered sellers. We checked only Paystack for this article, so look at the others yourself.

Be careful with these

Mixing business and personal money. If customers pay into your personal account, your sales, rent and shopping all sit together. That makes it hard to know your real profit. Open a second account just for the business if you can.

Using someone else's business account. Do not take payments through a friend's registered business without a clear written agreement. If something goes wrong, it is their name on the account.

Selling things a gateway does not allow. Every gateway has a list of banned or restricted products. Read it before you start, so your account is not closed with money inside.

Taking money and not delivering. It sounds obvious, but a few late deliveries can lead to chargebacks and a frozen account. Tell customers a clear delivery time and keep to it.

A simple checklist

• ☐ I have my BVN, a bank account and a valid ID ready.
• ☐ I read the gateway's current page for unregistered businesses.
• ☐ I know the collection limit and have done the sum for my sales.
• ☐ I have a plan and a date to register my business name.
• ☐ I keep business money in its own account.
• ☐ I read the list of banned products.

Where a website fits in

A payment link is a good start. But once customers want to pick products, enter an address and pay in one go, you need a store. Our e-commerce solution connects to your own payment gateway account, so the money goes to you. You can see the orders in one list. If you are not sure what you need, tell us what you sell and we will say honestly whether a link is enough for now.

For the wider plan, read How to Start an Online Business in Nigeria.

This article is general information, not legal or financial advice. Rules and limits change, so always check the gateway's own pages.