CBN Orders Dual PoS Connectivity, Gives One-Month Compliance Deadline

The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued a firm directive to key players in the payments ecosystem, giving them one month to implement dual connectivity for all Point of Sale transactions.

In a circular signed by the Director of the Payments System Supervision Department, Dr. Rakiya Yusuf, the apex bank instructed Acquirers, Processors, Payment Terminal Service Aggregators, and Payment Terminal Service Providers to connect their PoS systems to both the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL).

According to the CBN, the move is aimed at fixing long-standing vulnerabilities linked to routing PoS transactions through a single aggregator, a fragile setup where one failure can ripple across the entire system.

Under the new rules, all affected operators must establish and maintain active connections with both licensed aggregators, ensuring transactions can seamlessly switch between platforms whenever one experiences downtime. The bank also mandated automatic failover configurations to guarantee uninterrupted service during disruptions.

To keep the system battle-ready, NIBSS and UPSL, working alongside regulated financial institutions, are expected to carry out regular testing to confirm redundancy, failover efficiency, and overall resilience.

The circular further requires both aggregators to notify banks in real time whenever system disruptions occur. In addition, any downtime affecting their platforms must be reported to the CBN’s Payments System Supervision Department within 24 hours, clearly outlining the cause and the steps taken to resolve it.

All regulated financial institutions have been given a strict one-month window from the date of the circular to fully comply a clear signal that the era of single-point failure in Nigeria’s PoS ecosystem is coming to an end.