Payment Terminals Undergo Mandatory Recertification Ahead Of CBN’s October 31 Geo-tagging Deadline

The Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) has called on Payment Terminal Service Providers to commence their recertification process ahead of the October 31, 2025, deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for all point of sale (POS) terminals to be geotagged and geofenced.

NIBSS, a shared financial market infrastructure responsible for interbank settlements, electronic funds transfer, and oversight of payment terminals across the country, said the recertification is part of measures to ensure full regulatory compliance with CBN directives on geo-tagging and payment terminal operations.

Last month, the CBN mandated that all participants in the nation’s payments ecosystem migrate fully to the ISO 20022 messaging standard and geo-tag all payment terminals before the October 31, 2025, compliance deadline.

Mandating that all existing terminals must be geo-tagged within 60 days, while new ones must be geo-tagged before certification and activation, the CBN said it would begin compliance validation exercises from October 20, ahead of the October 31 deadline,

According to the circular signed by the CBN Director, Payments System Supervision Department, Dr. Rakiya Yusuf, the move aligns with global standards, particularly the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) timelines, and is aimed at strengthening the integrity, transparency, and efficiency of Nigeria’s rapidly expanding electronic payments industry.

The CBN circular also directed for the recertification of all Terminals nationwide with the National Central Switch. In line with this, NIBSS said it had introduced the NCS SDK to monitor and enforce compliance, while enhancing transaction security and improving operational efficiency of payment terminals nationwide.

NIBSS noted that the recertification also enables geofencing and real-time alerts to detect violations and prevent unauthorized use, provides accurate location tracking for PoS devices, improving accountability and transparency and boosts institutional efficiency and enhances customer trust through secure, location-aware services.

Thus, all PTSPs are to apply for recertification on NIBSS Sandbox, integrate SDK into PoS applications, deploy updated SDK nationwide as well as test and validate geofencing features.

Also, acquirers are also required to “update all existing and new terminals with merchant details via Geolocation to  APIs or fileshare via NIBSS Contact Centre”, while merchants are to ensure strict adherence to certified terminal usage guidelines.

A source told Leadership that as part of measures to give PTSPs enough room to wrap up all pre- and post-certification processes before validation starts  PTSPs are expected to complete the recertification exercise itself with NIBSS by the end of this month. According to the source, the 21 days from October 1 to October 20 would serve as a buffer for PTSPs to conclude all post-recertification processes and avoid last minute rush.