CBN Extends PoS Geo-Fencing Deadline to August 2026
By Patience Ikpeme
The Central Bank of Nigeria has deferred the enforcement date for the mandatory geo-fencing of Point-of-Sale terminals across the country to August 1, 2026.
This regulatory adjustment grants financial institutions and payment service providers a vital window to upgrade their systems and resolve prevailing technical challenges.
The directive was made public through a circular signed by the Director of the Payments System Supervision Department, Dr. Rakiya Yusuf. In addition to moving the compliance deadline, the apex bank sanctioned a major structural revision by expanding the permissible geo-fence radius for the electronic payment devices by 600 percent, moving the limit from the initially prescribed 10 meters to 70 meters.
According to the central bank, the decision to adjust the parameters and extend the timeline became necessary after extensive consultations with key industry actors regarding the practical application of the policy.
The regulatory framework originates from an earlier circular issued on August 25, 2025, which mandated the migration of the domestic financial network to ISO 20022 payment messaging standards and required the absolute tracking of all electronic transaction points.
“Further to the Circular with reference number PSS/DIR/PUB/CIR/001/001 dated August 25, 2025 on migration to ISO 20022 standards for payments messaging, mandatory geo-tagging of payment terminals, and various stakeholders’ engagement on the subject to address the operationalisation of the Circular, the Central Bank of Nigeria has approved a revision,” the circular stated.
Addressing the specific alterations to the technical framework, the apex bank noted that the “Geo-fence radius is hereby increased from 10 metres to 70 metres,” while confirming that the “Enforcement of PoS Terminal Geo-fence is extended to August 1, 2026.”
The geo-fencing system restricts the physical operations of terminal machines to specific, pre-registered geographical coordinates assigned to verified merchants and agents. By anchoring transactions to a documented physical space, the regulator aims to eliminate the proliferation of cloned terminal devices, track suspicious fund movements with high accuracy, and protect the overall security of the nationwide digital payments architecture.
To ensure that the extended grace period is effectively utilized, the financial regulator gave instructions to all affected operators to finalize their integration processes and deliver absolute proof of compliance before the onset of the new enforcement regime.
“Evidence of compliance to the above should be addressed to the Director, Payments System Supervision Department via paymentdata@cbn.gov.ng not later than July 31, 2026,” the regulatory body directed.
The apex bank also charged operators to quickly fix any lingering structural mismatches with the country’s central clearing system. The circular stated that “Financial institutions are required to resolve all operational issues with the National Central Switch within the stipulated timeline to ease compliance.”
The policy shift is expected to ease operational pressure on commercial banks, microfinance institutions, mobile money operators, and super agents. Financial experts note that the expansion of the operational radius to 70 meters offers crucial flexibility for merchants operating in multi-story trade complexes, sprawling open markets, and transit networks where a strict 10-meter boundary would have caused frequent transaction failures and severe business disruptions.
