The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a directive requiring all Point of Sale (PoS) operators to channel their transactions through licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregators (PTSAs) within 30 days. This move aims to enhance the tracking and management of electronic transactions across the country.
In a circular released on Thursday, the CBN stated that acquirers—institutions responsible for processing payments from PoS terminals—must now route transactions from both physical and electronic PoS terminals through one of the two licensed aggregators.
The CBN granted a second PTSA licence to Unified Payment Services Limited on April 19, 2024, in addition to the initial licence granted to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc in 2011. This decision was made to address concerns about relying on a single aggregator for all PoS transactions.
“Acquirers are henceforth required to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations through any CBN-licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator,” the statement read. The CBN also noted that licensed processors must integrate with both PTSAs to allow flexibility in choosing service providers.
Furthermore, the CBN has mandated that all payment terminal service providers (PTSPs) must configure their devices and applications to work with the PTSA selected by acquirers. PTSPs must also submit monthly reports to the CBN, detailing the number of merchants and agents they manage and the PTSA services used.
In line with the directive, each PTSA is required to submit monthly transaction reports to the CBN’s Payments System Management Department within seven days after the end of each month.
The CBN warned PoS operators that failure to regularize their operations with the PTSAs within 30 days would result in sanctions.
This directive follows a similar announcement by the Corporate Affairs Commission in July, which required all PoS operators to register with the commission by September 5, 2024.
