The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered that all Point of Sale (PoS) terminals across the country be geo-tagged within the next 60 days as part of measures to curb fraud and strengthen oversight of the rapidly expanding PoS sector.
The directive, issued to licensed operators such as Moniepoint, OPay, PalmPay, and commercial banks, requires every PoS device currently in use to be registered with its exact GPS coordinates. New terminals must also be geo-tagged before activation.
According to the CBN, any device that fails to comply by the October 20, 2025 deadline will be deactivated. “The move is meant to curb fraud, stop the use of cloned or ‘ghost’ terminals, and make it easier to track transactions in real time,” the apex bank stated in a circular.
Under the new rules, all existing PoS terminals must be upgraded with built-in GPS and connected to the National Central Switch, which will monitor usage through a dedicated software development kit (SDK). Merchants will only be permitted to process payments within a 10-metre radius of their registered business address, while devices found operating outside those limits will be shut down.
The CBN also made it clear that Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs) and mobile money operators will be held responsible for ensuring compliance across their networks.
