The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a new directive requiring all Payment Service Providers to track and route transactions conducted through Point of Sale (PoS) terminals via licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregators (PTSAs). This move aims to enhance the monitoring of electronic payments in the country.
The directive, signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo of the CBN’s Payments System Management Department, gives service providers a 30-day compliance deadline to implement enhanced routing protocols for PoS transactions. All transactions, whether physical or electronic, must now be processed through CBN-licensed PTSAs.
The CBN’s decision comes as part of efforts to decentralize PoS transaction management and address concerns about the centralization of these transactions. It follows the expiration of a previous deadline on September 5, which required PoS agents to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). The CAC has since shut down non-compliant PoS businesses.
This heightened regulation of PoS operations also responds to the increasing incidence of fraud, with PoS terminals responsible for 26.37% of fraud cases in 2023, according to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc.
