THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered all acquirers, processors and payment terminal service providers to establish dual connectivity with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL) within 30 days, in a fresh push to curb persistent Point of Sale (PoS) transaction failures.

The directive, contained in circular PSS/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/002 and signed by Director of the CBN’s Payments System Supervision Department, Ms Rakiya Yusuf, builds on a September 2024 policy aimed at ending the industry’s dependence on single routing channels that have undermined Nigeria’s cashless payment system.

Under the new rules, all acquirers, processors and payment terminal service providers must maintain active connections with both licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregators – NIBSS and UPSL.

The PoS systems are also required to support automatic failover, enabling seamless switching during outages. The measure targets frequent disruptions that have frustrated merchants and consumers across retail and informal markets.

READ ALSO: How unpaid N4.69trn interventions hinder fresh CBN support for farmers

To ensure compliance, NIBSS and UPSL will conduct periodic resilience and redundancy tests with financial institutions, with results submitted to the CBN for oversight. Both aggregators must also notify banks in real time of any system downtime and submit detailed incident reports to the regulator within 24 hours, outlining the cause of the disruption and remedial actions taken.

“The requirement is to notify banks in real time of any system downtime or disruption,” the circular stated.

The 30-day deadline, which expires around mid-January 2026, raises pressure on payment service providers that process millions of transactions daily, as Nigeria deepens its push for digital finance.

Frequent PoS outages have eroded user confidence, with earlier CBN interventions, including geo-tagging requirements introduced in August, failing to fully resolve the challenges.

POS operators under pressure

Meanwhile, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) recently announced a regulatory move to sanitise the industry, declaring January 1, 2026, as the enforcement date for mandatory registration of all PoS operators nationwide.

In a public notice signed by the Commission, the CAC said a number of PoS operators were conducting business in violation of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Agent Banking Regulations.

The proliferation of unregistered operators, according to the CAC, often enabled by some fintech companies, had become a challenge to Nigeria’s financial system, thereby exposing citizens to fraud and investment losses.

As a result of these violations, the CAC said from January 1, 2026, no PoS operator will be allowed to run without proper CAC registration. The agency said security agencies had been directed to enforce nationwide compliance, which included seizure or shutdown of unregistered PoS terminals, monitoring and enforcement actions against non-compliant agents and watchlisting of fintechs enabling illegal PoS operations.

READ ALSO: How banks, POS operators collude to worsen Nigeria’s cash scarcity

“Fintechs enabling illegal operations will be placed on watchlist and reported to the CBN. All operators are advised to regularize immediately. Compliance is mandatory,” the notice read. In July 2024, the CAC said the initial registration deadline had been extended for PoS operators from July 7 to September 5 after the expiration of a 60-day window earlier announced for business registration.

PoS operators knock FG

Some PoS operators believe that the Nigerian government is looking for a way to disrupt a business that has kept them busy for a while. “At times, I wonder why the Nigerian government has appeared to be the enemy of the people. When you seem to be doing well in one area, they come like a competitor to disrupt what you are doing,” said a PoS operator at Jakande Gate, Isolo area of Lagos, Ms Hadiza Jumoke Ore.

Another PoS operator at Apapa in Lagos, Mr Luke Arigbe, noted that even when individuals created jobs for themselves, the government would make efforts to see the jobs would fail.

“I am a graduate. I had no job. I went into the crypto market, and the government of late Muhammadu Buhari ensured it did not work. The then CBN governor, Godwin Enefiele, took it up like a personal fight. I moved into the PoS business, and it has been about new laws and regulations. I am not saying that regulations are bad, but too many hands spoil the broth.”