The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered all Payment Service Providers to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations through a registered CBN Payment Terminal Service Aggregator.
A 30-day deadline was issued requiring service providers to meet the terms with enhanced routing guidelines for Point of Sale transactions.
On behalf of the CBN’s Payments System Management Department, the apex bank, in a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on Thursday, stated that all PoS transactions from merchant and agent locations must now be routed through any CBN-licensed PTSA.
The circular read, “To achieve the objective of tracking electronic transactions in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria, in August 2011, granted a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator licence to Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc. In furtherance of the above, the CBN hereby directs acquirers to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations, whether on physical or electronic PoS terminals, through any CBN-licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator.”
“PTSAs are required to send PoS transactions to only processors certified by the relevant Payment Scheme, nominated by the Acquirer, and licensed by the CBN.”This development precedes the expiration of the 5th September deadline for PoS agents to officially register their businesses with the Corporate Affairs Commission, (CAC).
PoS terminals accounted for 26.37% of fraud incidents in 2023, based on a report by Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc,