Nigeria CBN extends PoS geofence to Aug 2026, radius 70m

The Central Bank of Nigeria has extended the deadline for compliance with its mandatory Point of Sale terminal geofencing policy to August 1, 2026, and significantly widened the permissible operating radius for the devices. The adjustments, announced in a circular dated May 29, follow extensive consultations with industry stakeholders and are intended to ease implementation challenges while preserving the policy's core security objectives.

Under the revised framework, the geofence radius for PoS terminals has been increased from 10 metres to 70 metres. The central bank also directed all payment service providers to submit evidence of their compliance via a dedicated portal by July 31, 2026. The policy, first introduced in August 2025, requires all PoS terminals to be geotagged with precise GPS coordinates tied to a merchant's registered business location.

The geofencing initiative is part of a broader regulatory push to strengthen oversight of Nigeria's electronic payments ecosystem, curb fraud, and improve transaction monitoring. Officials have stated that the measure is designed to prevent terminals from being used outside their approved deployment addresses, a practice that...