LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) The Central Bank of Nigeria has mandated that all Point of Sale operators route their transactions through licensed payment terminal service aggregators.
A circular published on the CBN’s website on Thursday indicated that this measure aims to improve the monitoring and management of electronic transactions across the country.
“As part of efforts to mitigate the concerns regarding channelling all Point of Sale transactions through a single aggregator, the CBN on April 19, 2024, granted a second PTSA licence to Unified Payment Services Limited.
“In furtherance of the above, the CBN hereby directs as follows: 1 Acquirers are henceforth required to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations, whether on physical or electronic PoS terminals, through any CBN-licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator PTSAs are required to send PoS transactions to only Processors certified by the relevant Payment Scheme, nominated by the Acquirer and licensed by CBN,” the apex bank noted.
It highlighted that the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc was issued a PTSA license in 2011 to manage the aggregation of PoS transactions.
To address concerns about relying on a single aggregator for all transactions, the CBN granted a second PTSA license to Unified Payment Services Limited in April of this year.
“To achieve the objective of tracking electronic transactions in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria in August 2011, granted a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator licence to Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc. As part of efforts to mitigate the concerns regarding channelling all Point of Sale transactions through a single aggregator, the CBN on April 19, 2024, granted a second PTSA licence to Unified Payment Services Limited.”
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The CBN has directed that all acquirers, who are responsible for processing payments from PoS terminals, must route transactions through either of the two licensed aggregators.
Furthermore, licensed processors must connect with both PTSAs to provide acquirers the option to select their preferred service providers.
It emphasized that payment terminal service providers, who deploy and manage PoS terminals, must ensure their devices and applications are configured to operate with any PTSA chosen by the acquirers.
The CBN requires PTSPs to submit monthly reports outlining the number of merchants and agents they manage, along with the PTSA services utilized.
Additionally, each PTSA must provide monthly reports of all transactions processed through their platforms.
These reports must be submitted to the director of the Payments System Management Department within seven days after the end of each month, as mandated by the apex bank.
The CBN has urged all PSPs to regularize their operations with the PTSAs within 30 days, cautioning that failure to comply with this directive will result in appropriate penalties.
It is worth noting that the Corporate Affairs Commission announced on July 7 that all Point of Sale operators in the country must register with it by September 5.