Central bank of Nigeria imposes strict rules on Point of Sale terminals

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced a series of regulatory changes to overhaul the country's agency banking network.

These measures aim to bring transparency to a system where transaction values reached ₦18.78 trillion in the first quarter of 2026. The bank moved to dismantle the informal structures that allowed small-scale agents to operate multiple machines from different providers simultaneously. The regulator mandated that every agent must now operate under a single principal institution.

This rule prevents merchants from keeping backup devices from different companies on the same counter. Additionally, the CBN capped daily cash-outs for agents at ₦1.2 million and restricted individual customer withdrawals to ₦100,000 per day. The bank also enforced a geo-fencing rule requiring terminals to operate within a 70-metre radius of their registered business address to prevent fraud and money laundering. To limit the power of large fintech companies, the CBN introduced market-share caps.

Any financial institution holding more than 25 per cent of the consumer card-issuing market can only hold up to 15 per cent of the merchant-acquiring market. The bank also ordered all payment data to be hosted within Nigeria by January 1, 2027. These rules may force smaller operators to merge or close because the cost of compliance and registration might outweigh the profits for rural agents.