The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a sweeping directive that requires Moniepoint, OPay, PalmPay, banks, and other licensed operators to geotag approximately 4.2 million Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminals within 60 days, or risk shutdown of non-compliant devices. This mandate aims to strengthen the oversight of digital payments and eliminate “ghost” or cloned terminals.
Under the new rules, every existing device must be registered with its precise GPS coordinates and integrated with the National Central Switch, using a special software development kit (SDK) for real-time monitoring. Merchants will only be permitted to process payments within a 10-metre radius of their registered business address. Any terminal used outside this geofence may be deactivated immediately.
Compliance checks are set to begin on October 20, 2025, giving operators two months to retrofit older devices with built-in GPS or ensure that new deployments include native geolocation features. With an estimated 5.9 million active PoS terminals out of 8.36 million registered as of March 2025, the move represents a significant operational undertaking.
This geotagging mandate follows last year’s regulatory efforts, which required PoS transactions to be routed through licensed payment aggregators and mandated registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), all aimed at improving transparency and limiting fraud.
Sources caution the directive could replicate the operational chaos of the 2022 naira redesign debacle, citing tight timelines and the sheer scale of upgrades needed. Still, if properly executed, the move may significantly reduce fraud and boost consumer confidence in Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem.
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