The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that all Point of Sale (PoS) terminals across the country must be geo-tagged within the next 60 days.
In a statement dated August 26, 2025, the CBN explained that the move is aimed at tackling rising fraud cases, improving security in digital payments, and ensuring proper oversight of financial transactions.
According to the apex bank, the directive is also part of a wider plan to modernise Nigeria’s payment system, protect consumers, and make sure all electronic transactions are both secure and traceable.
“This initiative is designed to ensure that all PoS terminals are traceable and that transactions are secure. Terminals operating outside their registered location will be flagged, and non-compliant devices will be deactivated,” the CBN said.
The bank stressed that geo-tagging would help eliminate cloned or illegal terminals and allow real-time monitoring of transactions nationwide.
From now on, newly deployed PoS machines will be equipped with geolocation features and dual-frequency GPS receivers to ensure accurate tracking. Devices that fail to comply with the policy by the October 20, 2025 deadline will be disabled.
Each PoS device will also be required to capture and transmit its location at the start of every transaction. Any activity that takes place outside a 10-meter radius of the registered merchant’s address will be automatically flagged by the system.
Licensed operators, including commercial banks and leading fintech companies such as Moniepoint, OPay, and PalmPay, have been directed to register all their terminals with a payment aggregator and submit accurate merchant coordinates.
With this new policy, the CBN aims to build stronger trust in Nigeria’s digital payment ecosystem and reduce fraud risks in the rapidly growing PoS business sector.
