Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Tag: POS

  • CBN tightens rules for foreign-card withdrawals as banks told to enable seamless use

    CBN tightens rules for foreign-card withdrawals as banks told to enable seamless use

    Photo Credit: The Punch
    2025-12-21 06:45:00

    Figures cited by The Nation show the Central Bank of Nigeria has directed banks and non-bank acquirers to configure ATMs, POS and virtual terminals to accept foreign-issued cards while applying stronger authentication above set thresholds.

    The circular instructs institutions to implement multi-factor authentication for foreign card withdrawals and online transactions above $200 per day, $500 per week, and $1,000 per month, and to maintain high system availability for smoother processing.

    Banks are also told to clearly disclose exchange rates and charges before completing transactions, and to strengthen transaction monitoring and KYC/AML controls for merchants handling foreign card payments.

    Premium Times reported the circular requires institutions to ensure terminals are configured to accept international cards and maintain availability to avoid failures, noting users should be shown terms before completion. Vanguard quoted the CBN directive: “implement multi-factor authentication for all withdrawals and online transactions exceeding $200 per day, $500 per week, and $1,000 per month.”

    Echotitbits take:
    For diaspora visitors and tourists, this could reduce declined transactions—if banks implement it cleanly. Watch for short-term disruption (higher declines during recalibration), plus how quickly institutions standardise FX rate disclosures and complaint-resolution timelines.

    Source: The Nation — December 21, 2025 (https://thenationonlineng.net/cbn-asks-banks-to-configure-atms-pos-terminals-for-foreign-card-transactions/)
    The Nation 2025-12-21

  • CBN gives payment firms 30 days to add dual channels for PoS transactions

    CBN gives payment firms 30 days to add dual channels for PoS transactions

    photo: CBN headquarters — Wikipedia

    According to The Punch, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed financial institutions, acquirers and payment service providers to implement mandatory dual connectivity for Point-of-Sale (PoS) transactions within one month to reduce failures and downtime.

    The directive, issued via a circular signed by the CBN’s Payments System Supervision leadership, is designed to ensure PoS transactions can automatically route through an alternative channel when one switch or aggregator fails.

    Daily Post also reported the same policy move, describing it as a 30‑day deadline aimed at stabilising PoS performance and reduce persistent transaction disruptions for merchants and consumers.

    Other industry reporting and commentary (including BusinessDay’s coverage shared on social platforms) echoed the policy intent: improve resilience, enforce reporting, and strengthen reliability testing across the payments ecosystem.

    Analysis/Echotitbits take: This is a quality-of-service crackdown, not just another circular. If enforcement is real, the biggest impact will be on downtime-driven “lost sales” for SMEs and on customer trust in cashless payments. Watch for compliance audits, penalties for repeated outages, and whether smaller aggregators can afford the redundancy costs without pushing fees higher for users.

    Source: The Punch — 12 Dec 2025 (https://punchng.com/cbn-sets-one-month-deadline-for-dual-pos-connectivity/)

     

  • FG Bans Cash Collections at MDAs, Orders POS Rollout

    The Federal Government has directed ministries, departments and agencies to stop accepting physical cash for revenue payments and migrate to approved electronic channels, including POS solutions. The policy is aimed at improving revenue transparency and reducing leakages.

    The directive is expected to reshape how citizens pay for federal services and strengthen the Treasury Single Account-driven collections framework.

    2025-12-08

    Punch

    2025-12-08