CBN begins POS tracking.
The Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, has directed all Payment Service Providers to route all transactions from POS terminals at merchant and agent locations — physical or electronic — through an approved CBN Payment Terminal Service Aggregator.
It also issued a 30-day deadline requiring service providers to comply with enhanced routing guidelines for Point of Sale transactions.
On Thursday, the apex bank issued a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on behalf of the CBN’s Payments System Management Department stating that all PoS transactions from merchant and agent locations must henceforth go via any CBN-licensed PTSA.
According to the CBN, this aims to strengthen the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria and decentralise POS transaction routing, addressing concerns about the centralisation of such transactions under a single entity.
The circular added, “To fulfill the goal of tracking electronic transactions in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria issued Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator license in August 2011.
In addition, the CBN hereby instructs acquirers to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations, whether physical or electronic, 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 comes after the deadline for PoS agents to legally register their enterprises with the Corporate Affairs Commission passed on September 5th.
Although the mandate was challenged in court, the CAC recently revealed that it has begun taking extreme measures, including shutting down PoS businesses that did not register.
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