Additionally, it set a 30-day deadline for service providers to adhere to the updated Point of Sale routing requirements. In order to allay worries about the centralization of these transactions under a single organization, this action attempts to improve the monitoring of electronic transactions throughout Nigeria and decentralize transaction routing.
The central bank announced on Thursday that all point-of-sale (PoS) transactions from merchant and agent locations must henceforth be routed through any PTSA approved by the CBN. The circular was signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on behalf of the CBN’s Payments System Management Department.
The circular stated as follows: “In August 2011, the Central Bank of Nigeria awarded Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator license in order to fulfill the goal of tracking electronic transactions in Nigeria. To support the aforementioned, the CBN therefore instructs acquirers to use any CBN-licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator for all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations, regardless of whether the terminals are electronic or physical.
Sending PoS transactions to processors that are licensed by the CBN, approved by the acquirer, and certified by the applicable payment scheme is a requirement for PTSAs.
This comes after the time for PoS agents to legally register their firms with the Corporate Affairs Commission expired on September 5th.
Despite a legal challenge to the regulation, the CAC recently declared that it has started implementing severe measures, such as closing down PoS companies who neglected to register.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s intentions to forbid trading in cryptocurrencies or virtual money are coupled with the order on PoS company registration, which was issued in the wake of numerous fraud occurrences utilizing PoS terminals.
A Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc report states that 26.37% of fraud incidences in 2023 were related to PoS terminals.
