The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has extended the enforcement deadline for Point-of-Sale terminal geo-fencing to August 1, 2026, allowing financial institutions and payment service providers more time to comply with the regulatory directive, Peak Newspaper reports.
The extension was contained in a circular dated May 29, 2026, signed by the Director of the Payments System Supervision Department, Dr Rakiya Yusuf.
The circular, addressed to Deposit Money Banks, Microfinance Banks, Mobile Money Operators, Payment Terminal Service Providers, Super Agents and other operators in the nation’s payment ecosystem, announced a revision to the implementation timeline of the policy.
The apex bank explained that the decision followed engagements with stakeholders and concerns raised during the implementation of an earlier circular issued on August 25, 2025, which introduced migration to ISO 20022 standards for payments messaging and mandatory geo-tagging of payment terminals.
The CBN had earlier directed all PoS terminals in the country to be geo-tagged within 60 days as part of efforts to curb fraud and strengthen oversight of digital payment channels.
According to the latest circular, the geo-fence radius for PoS terminals has also been increased from 10 metres to 70 metres.
“Geo-fence radius is hereby increased from 10 metres to 70 metres,” the circular stated.
The bank further announced that enforcement of the geo-fencing requirement has now been shifted to August 1, 2026.
Geo-fencing requires PoS terminals to operate strictly within approved locations linked to merchants and agents, a measure aimed at improving transaction monitoring, reducing abuse of payment systems and enhancing the integrity of electronic payment channels.
The regulator directed all affected institutions to submit evidence of compliance to the Payments System Supervision Department through paymentdata@cbn.gov.ng on or before July 31, 2026.
The CBN also instructed financial institutions to resolve all outstanding operational and technical issues with the National Central Switch within the stipulated period to ensure smooth compliance with the directive.
