The Nigerian apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has increased the allowed operating radius for Point of Sale (PoS) agents to 70 metres from 10 metres. The apex bank chose this adjustment due to fears that the initial 10-metre limit was too strict for the realities of the Nigerian market. This change is to provide additional operational flexibility, to minimise inadvertent violations and to prevent interference in agent banking services.
The policy introduced first in August 2025 is primarily about control, fraud reduction and traceability. The CBN's directive implies that all terminals (such as FairMoney, Moniepoint, Paga, UBA, OPay, FirstMonie, and Palmpay POS) must be GPS-tagged, linked to exact coordinates, and monitored in real time via payment infrastructure systems.
The policy mandates that all PoS terminals should be enrolled with a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA), either NIBSS or Unified Payment Services Limited (UPS), and each of the terminals must be connected to specific geographic coordinates, including the latitude and longitude of the agent’s or merchant's business location, as well as its operational status. Terminals not directly connected through a PTSA are prohibited from processing transactions.
In addition, operators were mandated to ensure that their payment terminals and related/applicable applications received certification from the National Central Switch (NCS). In a May 29, 2026, circular, the apex bank extended the enforcement deadline to August 1, 2026, to buy more time for the payment companies to comply with the policy. The bank also directed financial institutions to address and resolve any outstanding operational challenges that have to do with the NCS within the prescribed timeframe.
PoS terminals were inceptioned in 2013, and since then, they have evolved into the country’s primary channel for cash transactions. In fact, an estimated density of 1,600 agents per square kilometre was recorded. However, the number of registered payment terminals climbed to 8.36 million in March 2025, of which 5.90 million of the payment terminals were actively deployed.
The transaction volumes of the terminals also surged to a record N10.51 trillion in the first quarter of 2025. The increase is 301.67 percent from last year. This growth has improved access to financial services but has also raised concerns about fraud, regulatory compliance and the potential misuse of agent networks for illegal financial activities. These are the basic reasons the CBN is using increasing regulatory measures to pay attention to Nigeria’s rapidly expanding PoS network.
