CBN gives PoS terminal providers one month to connect to NIBSS, UPSL

The Central Bank of Nigeria has given point-of-sale terminal providers, acquirers, and processors one month to connect their systems to both the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System and Unified Payment Services Limited, in a move aimed at improving transaction reliability and reducing service disruptions.

In a circular dated December 11, 2025, and signed by Rakiya Yusuf, director of the CBN’s Payments System Supervision Department, the apex bank directed all Payment Terminal Service Providers to implement mandatory dual connectivity for PoS transactions. Under the directive, providers are required to establish and maintain active connections with the two licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregators, NIBSS and UPSL.

The CBN said all transaction routing systems must be integrated with both platforms to ensure uninterrupted processing. The systems are also expected to support automatic failover, allowing transactions to continue seamlessly whenever one aggregator experiences downtime.

To ensure the effectiveness of the dual connectivity framework, the regulator mandated periodic testing. According to the circular, NIBSS and UPSL, working with regulated financial institutions, are to carry out regular tests to confirm redundancy, failover performance, and overall system resilience.

The apex bank further instructed both aggregators to promptly report any system downtime or service disruption. They are required to notify the director of the Payments System Supervision Department within 24 hours of any incident, detailing the nature of the disruption, its causes, and the remedial actions taken.

The CBN stressed that all regulated financial institutions and service providers must comply with the directive within one month from the date of the circular.