The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the deadline for enforcement of its Point of Sale (PoS) terminal geo-fencing framework to July 31, giving more room for compliance.

This was disclosed in a circular issued by the CBN Director of the Payments System Supervision Department, Rakiya Yusur.

The CBN had directed that all PoS terminals in the country be geo-tagged to curb the use of POS for fraud and robbery.

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The directive requires all players in Nigeria's payments ecosystem, including Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Microfinance Banks (MFBs), Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), Super Agents, and switching companies, to adopt the ISO 20022 messaging standard and geo-tag all payment terminals.

The new extension shifted the enforcement date to 1 August, giving operators additional time to complete technical and operational requirements.

The circular read in part, "Further to the Circular with reference number PSS/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/001 dated August 25, 2025, on migration to ISO 20022 standards for payments messaging, mandatory geo-tagging of payment terminals, and various stakeholders' engagement on the subject to address the operationalisation of the Circular, the Central Bank of Nigeria has considered and approved the following:

"Geo-fence radius is hereby increased from 10 metres to 70 metres. Enforcement of PoS Terminal Geo-fence is extended to August 1, 2026."

"Evidence of compliance with the above should be addressed to the Director, Payments System Supervision Department via [email protected] not later than 31 July, 2026.

"Financial institutions are required to resolve all operational issues with the National Central Switch within the stipulated timeline to ease compliance."

Geo-fencing requires PoS terminals to operate only within approved geographic locations linked to registered merchants and agents and it will make it easy for CBN and security agencies to track those who use POS for criminal purposes.