By Chinwendu Obienyi
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has mandated that all point of sale (POS) transactions must be routed through its licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregators (PTSAs), namely Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) and Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL).
According to the apex bank, this directive aims to standardize POS devices, ensure consistent functionality, and improve tracking of electronic transactions in Nigeria.
The circular signed by the bank’s Director, Payments Systems Management Department, Oladimeji Taiwo, stated that PSPs must regularise their systems and route all POS transactions through its licenced PTSAs; Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) and Unified Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL), and inform CBN of their compliance within 30 days from the date of the circular.
It will be recalled that in order to achieve the objective of tracking electronic transactions in Nigeria, the apex bank in August 2011, granted a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) licence to Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS).
The circular said, “As part of efforts to mitigate the concerns regarding channelling Point of Sale (PoS) transactions through a single aggregator, the CBN on April 19, 2024, granted a second PTSA licence to Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL).
In furtherance of the above, the CBN hereby directs as follows: acquirers are henceforth required to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations, whether on physical or electronic PoS terminals, through any CBN-licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA)”.
The bank further stated that PTSAs are required to send PoS transactions to only Processors certified by the relevant Payment Scheme, nominated by the Acquirer and licensed by CBN.
“All licensed Processors must be integrated with both PTSAS, thereby allowing Acquirers the flexibility to choose which Processor(s) and PTSA to utilize
All Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs) must ensure that their PoS devices. Applications are configured to route transactions through any PTSA, as directed by the Acquirer.
All PTSPs shall submit monthly returns to the CBN, detailing the number of merchants and agents they manage, along with the PTSA services used to route the corresponding transactions”, it said.
According to the bank, each PTSA is required to submit monthly returns to the CBN, detailing all transactions processed through their platforms.
The financial regulator added that all PSPs and PTSAs are expected to submit monthly returns to CBN’s director, payments system management department, not later than seven days after the end of each month.
The CBN thereafter urged PSPs and the aggregators to be guided accordingly, adding that non-compliance will attract appropriate sanctions.