Central Bank Orders Dedicated Accounts For POS Operators

To tighten oversight and support customers from fraud, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed each Point-of-Sale (POS) operators and banking agents successful the state to run dedicated accounts oregon wallets solely for cause banking transactions.

The directive, contained successful the recently released Guidelines for the Operations of Agent Banking successful Nigeria (October 2025), besides empowers the apex slope to enforce stiff sanctions, including blacklisting, licence suspension, and fines, against institutions oregon agents recovered violating the caller rules.

According to the document, the caller request aims to fortify oversight, guarantee transaction traceability, and support customers from fraud and misuse of funds. CBN Director, Payment System Policy, Musa Ibrahim, successful a circular to each deposit wealth banks, different fiscal institutions and outgo work providers, said the line was issued successful furtherance of its mandate for the stableness of the economical strategy and pursuant to its relation successful deepening the fiscal system.

He noted that the guidelines purpose to found minimum standards for operating cause banking successful Nigeria, heighten cause banking to supply fiscal services and beforehand fiscal inclusion, promote liable marketplace conduct, and amended work prime successful Agent Banking operations.

The guidelines, which instrumentality effect immediately, are dated October 6, 2025. They read, “Agents shall support a dedicated relationship oregon wallet for cause banking transactions only. Any transaction conducted extracurricular the dedicated relationship oregon wallet shall beryllium regarded arsenic violating these Guidelines.”

The apex slope further emphasised that fiscal institutions are liable for ensuring that their appointed agents comply afloat with the requirement, adding that non-compliance would beryllium treated arsenic a breach of regulatory standards.

To reenforce subject and accountability, the line stated that the CBN whitethorn enforce monetary penalties, suspend the cognition of an agent, revoke approval, oregon blacklist agents and their principals for non-compliance.

“Where a main fails to instrumentality remedial enactment against an erring agent, the Bank whitethorn enforce further sanctions, including the suspension oregon revocation of the principal’s licence to run cause banking services.”

The CBN besides noted that the sanctions would widen to agents who prosecute successful misconduct oregon fraudulent practices, stressing that blacklisted agents oregon ace agents would beryllium prohibited from operating successful immoderate fiscal instauration successful the country.

“The Bank shall support and people a database of blacklisted agents and principals. Any idiosyncratic oregon instauration blacklisted nether these Guidelines shall not beryllium permitted to run arsenic an cause oregon main successful the Nigerian fiscal system,” the line read.