Anti-Fraud Drive: CBN Extends PoS Geo-Fencing Compliance Window to August 31st. 2026
Oru Leonard
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the deadline for the enforcement of its Point of Sale (PoS) terminal geo-fencing framework, granting financial institutions and payment service operators additional time to comply with the directive aimed at strengthening payment system security.
The extension, announced in a circular signed by the Director of the Payments System Supervision Department, Rakiya Yusur, moves the enforcement date to August 1, 2026, while compliance evidence must be submitted on or before July 31.
The geo-fencing initiative is part of the apex bank’s efforts to curb fraud, robbery, and other criminal activities linked to the misuse of PoS terminals across the country.
Under the framework, all stakeholders in Nigeria’s payments ecosystem, including Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Microfinance Banks (MFBs), Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), Super Agents and switching companies, are required to geo-tag their payment terminals and migrate to the ISO 20022 payments messaging standard.
The CBN also approved a review of the geo-fence radius, increasing it from 10 metres to 70 metres to address operational concerns raised by industry stakeholders during consultations.
According to the circular, financial institutions are expected to resolve all outstanding technical and operational issues with the National Central Switch within the stipulated timeline to facilitate seamless compliance.
Geo-fencing restricts PoS terminals to approved locations linked to registered merchants and agents, enabling regulators and security agencies to more effectively monitor terminal deployment and trace devices used for illicit activities.
The regulator said the additional compliance window followed engagements with stakeholders aimed at ensuring a smooth implementation of the policy across the payments ecosystem.
