Financial institutions race to comply with CBN PoS directive

From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja

Banks and payment service providers across Nigeria are racing against time to meet a new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive mandating dual connectivity for all Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminals within one month.

The circular, issued last week by the Director of the Payments System Supervision Department, Rakiya Yusuf, requires all acquirers, processors, and Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs) to maintain active connections with both licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregators (PTSA), the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL).

The directive aims to prevent disruptions caused by routing all PoS transactions through a single aggregator. It also mandates automatic failover configuration, ensuring that transactions seamlessly switch between the two aggregators during any service outage. NIBSS and UPSL, in collaboration with regulated financial institutions, will conduct periodic tests to validate system redundancy and resilience.

CBN also requires real-time reporting of any system downtime or service disruption to banks, with formal notifications submitted to the Payments System Supervision Department within 24 hours, detailing causes and remedial actions. Financial institutions are expected to comply within one month of the circular’s issuance.

The regulator said the initiative is critical to strengthening the nation’s payment infrastructure, safeguarding consumers, and ensuring uninterrupted electronic transactions across the country.

“All regulated Financial Institutions are required to comply with this directive within one (1) month from the date of this circular,” the document stated in part.