Nigeria’s point-of-sale (PoS) network is about to get a real-world test of accuracy, reliability, and location-based accountability. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ordered all payment terminals to be geo-tagged, or risk being shut down.
In a circular released on August 25, 2025, the regulator gave operators like Moniepoint, OPay, PalmPay, Kuda, Fairmoney POS, and traditional banks POS like UBA, First Bank e.t.c. just 60 days to map every PoS device to its exact GPS coordinates.
The “reality check” part comes in because many operators may have been inflating their coverage claims, misreporting device locations, or allowing terminals to be moved around informally. GPS tagging will expose the true state of the network.
In addition to that, fraud, cloned terminals, and ghost agents have turned parts of the network into a digital free-for-all. Under the new rules, PoS machines will only process payments within a 10-metre radius of their registered business address.
From October 20, any PoS terminal that hasn’t been updated with its GPS location will be completely blocked from processing transactions—not even a single naira transaction.
Existing terminals will need GPS-enabled upgrades and integration with the National Central Switch through a dedicated software development kit (SDK). New devices must be geo-tagged before they are activated.
Why is the CBN tightening oversight of PoS terminals with the new GPS rule in Nigeria? The point is that: the Nigeria PoS industry has grown massively, with over 1.5 million agents nationwide which majority of them are in places like Lagos.
Because the PoS industry has grown so fast, it has also created risks and loopholes; unethical activities like fraud, money laundering, untraceable transactions, fake or unregistered agents, and unreliable service are reported in some areas.
That’s why the CBN isn’t just looking at the numbers, but also at transparency, accountability, and financial stability. Although, this is not the first time the Apex bank is regulating the POS ecosystem. Earlier reforms forced agents to register properly (with the CAC) and process transactions through official aggregators.
Geo-tagging—which will make the system even more transparent by showing exactly where each terminal is located—is just the next regulatory oversight. For fintechs and mobile money providers, the clock is ticking. Two months to retrofit hardware, update software, and ensure every device is compliant, or risk losing access to millions of daily transactions.
The ecosystem is huge and important, but because of its scale and informality, the CBN keeps adding new layers of oversight to bring order and accountability.
