Central Bank of Nigeria Extends PoS Geo-Fencing Deadline

The Central Bank of Nigeria extended the enforcement deadline for mandatory Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminal geo-fencing to August 1, 2026. In a circular dated May 29, the regulator also increased the permissible geo-fence radius for terminals from 10 metres to 70 metres to address GPS precision issues and operational challenges raised by industry stakeholders.

The policy requires PoS terminals to be linked to registered business addresses and migrated to the ISO 20022 payment messaging standard. These measures aim to curb fraud and robbery by restricting operations to approved merchant locations and improving transaction monitoring.

Deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, and switching companies must submit evidence of compliance to the Payments System Supervision Department by July 31, 2026. The regulator warned that non-compliant operators face a minimum fine of ₦5 million.