The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a strict deadline of October 31, 2025, for all players in the country’s payment ecosystem to fully migrate to the ISO 20022 messaging standard and implement mandatory geo-tagging of payment terminals.
In a circular dated August 25 and signed by Dr Rakiya O. Yusuf, Director of the Payments System Supervision Department, the apex bank made it clear that compliance with these reforms is compulsory.
According to the CBN, ISO 20022 has become the global benchmark for payment transactions, aligning with SWIFT’s international migration timeline.
The directive requires Deposit Money Banks, Microfinance Banks, Mobile Money Operators, Switching and Processing Companies, Payment Terminal Service Providers, Payment Solution Service Providers, Super Agents, and other licensed operators to adopt the standard.
The circular emphasized that all payment messages exchanged within or outside Nigeria must be formatted in ISO 20022 in line with CBN and SWIFT specifications.
Institutions are required to accurately populate critical fields such as payer and payee identifiers, merchant and agent details, and transaction metadata to improve transparency and fraud detection.
Mandatory Geo-Tagging of Terminals
In addition to ISO 20022 compliance, the CBN introduced mandatory geo-tagging of all payment terminals to strengthen oversight of the electronic payments space.
Every Point-of-Sale (PoS) and similar device must have geolocation services enabled with double-frequency GPS receivers and must be registered with a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA).
The regulator further mandated that Android OS version 10 is the minimum requirement for terminals, ensuring compatibility with the National Central Switch’s geolocation monitoring system.
Terminals not geo-tagged within 60 days or not routed through a PTSA will be barred from transactions.
Compliance and Industry Impact
The CBN announced that compliance validation exercises will commence on October 20, 2025, ahead of the final October 31 deadline. This dual reform, combining ISO 20022 messaging and geo-tagging, is expected to strengthen Nigeria’s payment infrastructure, improve regulatory oversight, and curb fraud.
By requiring richer data exchange and location tracking, the CBN aims to enhance cross-border payment reliability, increase consumer trust, and align Nigeria’s financial system with international best practices. For businesses and customers, these measures promise safer, faster, and more transparent digital transactions.
