The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all financial institutions, acquirers, and payment service providers to implement mandatory dual connectivity for all Point of Sale (PoS) transactions within one month.
Okay News reports that the circular signed by Rakiya Yusuf emphasizes that connecting terminals to both the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System and Unified Payment Services Limited is essential to strengthen the nation’s digital payments infrastructure.
The new rule replaces the September 2024 policy and seeks to eliminate the persistent single-channel bottleneck that has caused frequent PoS downtime across Nigeria’s banking network.
All acquirers, processors, and Payment Terminal Service Providers must maintain active dual links to reduce dependence on a single aggregator and stabilize the payment ecosystem.
The CBN has mandated automatic failover in PoS routing systems, requiring terminals to switch between aggregators seamlessly whenever disruptions occur to improve transaction completion rates during network outages.
Periodic redundancy and failover tests are now compulsory, with NIBSS and UPSL expected to collaborate with financial institutions to validate system readiness and ensure uninterrupted service.
Stricter reporting obligations require banks and aggregators to notify the CBN immediately when downtime occurs and provide detailed incident reports within 24 hours, covering causes, impacts, and corrective measures.
All regulated financial institutions must complete integration, testing, and system adjustments before mid-January 2026 to comply with the one-month deadline and support a resilient PoS infrastructure.
The directive aligns with CBN’s broader effort to enhance the reliability of electronic payments and strengthen Nigeria’s digital payment ecosystem for consumers and businesses alike.
Earlier guidelines, including mandatory geo-tagging, ISO 20022 messaging standards, and location compliance rules, complement the new dual connectivity requirements and aim to modernize PoS operations nationwide.
The apex bank also imposed penalties for non-compliance, including a minimum fine of N5 million and an additional N300,000 per day for ongoing violations, reinforcing the seriousness of PoS regulation.
CBN’s initiative underscores a continued push to build a secure, reliable, and resilient digital payments framework that supports financial inclusion and reduces service disruptions in Nigeria’s economy.
