Wetin be geo-tagging of PoS wey CBN give operators ultimatum to activate and how e go work in 60 days

Di Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] don give directive wey make am compulsory for all Point of Sale [PoS] terminals for di kontri to tag dia location within 60 days.

According to di highest bank for Nigeria, di aim na to reduce tiff-tiff, mago-mago for di business and to also improve di business wey dey grow wit speed for Nigeria.

For statement wey CBN release on 26 August, 2025, dem explain say na part of di tins wey dem dey do to reduce fraud and to strengthen digital payments.

Dem add say na also part of dia plan to upgrade di payment system for Nigeria wey go also improve consumer protection, and make sure say dem fit trace digital financial transactions wey be anoda way to secure di PoS system.

"Dis initiative dey designed to make sure say all PoS terminals dey traceable and transactions dey secure. We go flag terminals wey dey operate outside dia registered location down, and deactivate non-compliant devices."

According to the bank dis new directive go help remove "ghost" or cloned terminals and e go also help dem monitor transactions as e dey happun.

E also mean say any new PoS wey dem go give pipo or activate go get dia native geolocation features and double-frequency GPS receivers wey go help dia tracking to dey accurate.

CBN add say any terminal wey fail to comply wit di October 20, 2025, deadline no go dey allowed to operate again.

For pipo wey dey do PoS business, dia device gatz capture and transmit di location once dem start any transaction.

CBN go shut down any activity wey dey beyond 10-meter radius of di registered merchant address automatically.

Licensed operators, wey include major banks and fintech companies like Moniepoint, OPay, and PalmPay, dey expected to register each terminal wit a payment aggregator and provide exact merchant coordinates.

Wetin be geotagging?

Geotagging na di process wey pipo dey use add dia geographical identification metadata [di data of di exact place wey dem dey].

Dem fit tag anytin like foto, video, websites, even any post for social media, anytin at all.

E dey help tell di exact location wey di pesin dey or upload any foto or video or any media content or business transaction.

Geotagging also mean to pin PoS for specific point for di map and you go also identify di particular place wey di PoS dey wit di Longitude and Latitude and wit all dis coordinate you gatz specifically point wia di PoS dey.

But di Acting National President of di Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents Obioha Oti say "geo-tagging need to work wit geofencing wey mean say no PoS suppose work outside 10-metres radius of di particular place and address wey dem register am".

How geotagging go affect PoS operators and users?

Oti tell local tori pipo Channels TV for dia Business Morning show say dem no dey surprised wit dis development sake of say na wetin dem bin don discuss.

Im explain say for PoS owners, once dem leave di location wey dem register dia devices e go shutdown.

"About 10 metres from dat location dem go deactivate di device and e no go work within di time wey you dey outside di location."

"For example if I register PoS for Lekki and decide to go anoda place wit dat PoS immediately I waka comot from di place wey di PoS dey geo-tagged e no go work again," e tok.

How dem wan take tag all di PoS for Nigeria in 60 days?

Oti add say even though di directive dey good, wia kasala go dey na how to tag di millions of PoS wey dey for di kontri.

Im explain say in reality some of di PoS no be Android version wey dey compliant wit dis technology of geotagging and geofencing.

"We get about 10 million PoS for di kontri and about half of dem dey active. Weda di PoS dey active right now or e go dey active later, e need to dey geotagged for am to comply wit di CBN directive.

Im say operators go dey struggle to geotag PoS wey pass 4 million in number by far.

"To give a matching order say dis geotagging gatz happun within 60 days window, na dia problem dey. We just come back from di naira redesign kasala wey bin put evribodi inside confusion.

"Agency banking start for 2013, e don tey small but dem bin no dey geotag PoS, so I no see why dem dey rush, di CBN policy good, dem gatz give time frame wey no go cause unnecessary disruption within di market.

Wetin be di technicalities and how e go affect business?

Di mobile money and bank agents oga say no be evri PoS device fit do geotagging. E explain say na only from PoS Android version 10 fit do am.

"At least ova 40 percent of di PoS wey dey for market no be Android, and e mean say dem gatz witdraw many of di PoS wey dey di system and replace am wit new version wey dey compliant wit dis geotagging policy and e go involve a lot of resources," Oti tok.

Im say Monipoint and Opay get di highest number of PoS for market and dem need to withdraw di ones wey no get di capacity to comply wit dis directive or dem gatz update di software for di ones wey get di capacity wey reach Android version 10.

Oti beg govment to chook eye for di mata and make dem allow di PoS operators to do dis upgrade and geotagging phase by phase, sake of say, e go take time and e go take effort and e go also cause plenti challenges sake of say to do upgrade, dis devices gatz dey switched off.