The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a sweeping directive to all banks, mobile money operators, super agents, and licensed payment providers.
By October 31, 2025, every player in Nigeria’s payments ecosystem must migrate to the ISO 20022 messaging standard and geo-tag all point-of-sale (PoS) terminals.
The move is aimed at aligning Nigeria’s financial system with global standards while tackling rising fraud across electronic payment channels.
“All payment transaction messages exchanged domestically or internationally must be formatted in ISO 20022 in line with CBN and SWIFT specifications,” the circular stated.
Geo-Tagging to Rein in Rogue PoS Operators
CBN says fraudulent practices by rogue PoS agents and abuse of payment devices have created dangerous loopholes.
To fix this, all existing and new PoS terminals must be equipped with native geolocation services using double-frequency GPS receivers.
Each device must be registered with a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA), showing accurate latitude and longitude of the merchant’s location.
“Geo-location data must be captured at transaction initiation and included in the message payload as a mandatory reporting field,” the circular added.
Terminals not routed through a PTSA will be blocked from transacting.
Operators must also ensure strict adherence to approved Merchant Service Codes (MSC) per sector.
Certification and Compliance Timeline
All payment terminals and applications must be certified by the National Central Switch.
As part of certification, each PoS must integrate the National Central Switch SDK for geolocation monitoring and geofencing.
Android OS v10 is now the minimum requirement for all terminals to ensure compatibility.
“The SDK for geolocation monitoring must be initialised at the registered business/service location,” CBN said.
A 10-meter geofence radius is permitted for merchant activity. Anything beyond that will trigger compliance alerts.
Existing terminals must be geo-tagged within 60 days of the circular. New terminals must be geo-tagged before activation.
CBN will begin compliance checks from October 20, 2025.
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