The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered that all Point of Sale (PoS) terminals in the country must be geo-tagged within the next 60 days.
The apex bank said the move is aimed at curbing fraud and tightening oversight of the booming PoS industry, which has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in Nigeria’s financial system.
The directive affects operators such as Moniepoint, OPay, PalmPay, commercial banks, and other licensed providers. According to the CBN, every PoS machine already in circulation must be registered with its exact GPS location, while new devices must be geo-tagged before activation.
Any device that does not meet the requirement before the October 20, 2025 deadline will be deactivated.
“The measure is to stop fraud, block cloned or ghost terminals, and make it easier to monitor transactions in real time,” the bank said in a circular to operators.
The CBN also explained that all terminals must be fitted with GPS systems and linked to the National Central Switch, which will monitor usage with a special software kit. Merchants will only be able to process payments within a 10-metre radius of their registered business address. Devices found operating outside this zone risk being shut down.
Operators, including Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs) and mobile money firms, will be held responsible for ensuring compliance across their networks.
Fraud involving PoS terminals has been on the rise in recent years, with some criminals reportedly using the devices to defraud customers or even collect ransom payments. By enforcing geo-tagging, the CBN hopes to block such loopholes.
Nigeria’s PoS industry has grown rapidly in the last decade. As of 2023, there were about 1.5 million PoS agents nationwide – roughly one agent for every 80 Nigerians.
In 2024, the CBN mandated that all PoS transactions be routed through licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregators (PTSA) and required operators to register devices with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
