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).
