The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given banks and other payment operators until October 31, 2025, to fully adopt the ISO 20022 messaging standard and enable geo-tagging on all payment terminals.
In a circular published on Tuesday, the bank reminded Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Microfinance Banks (MFBs), Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), switching companies, and other licensed operators that ISO 20022 is now the global benchmark for payments.
The directive, signed by Dr. Rakiya O. Yusuf, Director of the Payments System Supervision Department, aligns with SWIFT’s global migration plan. It aims to improve data quality across Nigeria’s financial system.
The circular stated: “All payment transaction messages exchanged domestically or internationally must be formatted in ISO 20022 in line with CBN and SWIFT specifications.”
Institutions must also include key details such as payer and payee identifiers, merchant codes, and transaction metadata. The CBN warned that “compliance with these requirements is not optional.”
Beyond messaging, the regulator has introduced mandatory geo-tagging of payment terminals. All new and existing devices must support native geolocation services, backed by double-frequency GPS. Terminals must also be registered with a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) and linked to precise latitude and longitude coordinates of the merchant.
The CBN said: “All existing terminals must be geo-tagged within 60 days of this circular; new terminals going forward must be geo-tagged before certification and activation.”
The bank also set Android 10 as the minimum operating system for all terminals, to ensure compatibility with its geolocation monitoring system. Any device not routed through a PTSA will be barred from processing transactions.
Compliance checks will start on October 20, 2025.
ISO 20022 is a global financial messaging standard. It allows richer transaction data, which reduces errors, improves fraud detection, and speeds up cross-border payments.
Geo-tagging links PoS terminals to their physical locations. For the CBN, this ensures that devices remain in approved business sites. It also helps regulators spot areas with poor payment coverage and track fraud more effectively.
According to the bank, the reforms are designed to strengthen Nigeria’s payments infrastructure, improve transparency, and bring the system in line with international best practice.
