CBN Directs Payment Service Providers to Route PoS Transactions through Approved Aggregators

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all Payment Service Providers to route all transactions from Point of Sale (PoS) terminals through an approved CBN Payment Terminal Service Aggregator. This move aims to strengthen the monitoring of electronic transactions and decentralize PoS transaction routing.

The CBN stated, “To achieve the objective of tracking electronic transactions in Nigeria… the CBN hereby directs acquirers to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations… through any CBN-licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator.”

The directive, issued in a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo, requires service providers to comply with enhanced routing guidelines for PoS transactions within 30 days. The CBN also stated that Payment Terminal Service Aggregators (PTSAs) must send PoS transactions to only processors certified by the relevant Payment Scheme, nominated by the Acquirer, and licensed by the CBN.

This development follows the expiration of the deadline for PoS agents to register their businesses with the Corporate Affairs Commission. The CBN’s move is part of efforts to prevent fraud incidents involving PoS terminals, which accounted for 26.37% of fraud incidents in 2023, according to a report by Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc.