The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all acquirers, processors, payment terminal service providers and payment terminal service aggregators to establish mandatory dual connectivity that links Point-of-Sale transactions to both licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregators, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL), in a move aimed at eliminating the widespread failures associated with routing transactions through a single aggregator.
The bank explained that the directive is a continuation of its earlier circular issued on September 11, 2024, which highlighted the dangers of allowing the entire PoS ecosystem to depend on only one routing channel, a situation that has often resulted in transaction delays, service breakdowns and operational disruptions across the financial system.
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According to the circular signed by Rakiya O. Yusuf, director, payments system supervision department, all acquirers, processors and payment terminal service providers are now required to maintain an active connection to both NIBSS and UPSL so that transactions can move seamlessly between the two platforms. The central bank emphasised that service providers must configure their PoS routing systems in a way that allows automatic failover, meaning that once one aggregator experiences downtime, transactions immediately switch to the other aggregator without interruption. The bank noted that this measure is intended to strengthen the resilience of Nigeria’s payments infrastructure and ensure that customers and merchants do not experience unnecessary transaction failures.
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The circular also stated that NIBSS and UPSL, working alongside regulated financial institutions, are expected to conduct periodic tests that demonstrate the effectiveness of the redundancy measures and confirm the system’s overall stability. The regulator added that in the event of downtime or a service disruption, both NIBSS and UPSL must notify banks in real time, and must also send a formal report to the director of the payments system supervision department within 24 hours, detailing the nature of the disruption, its cause and the remedial actions taken.
The Central Bank of Nigeria stressed that all regulated financial institutions have one month from the date of the circular to comply fully with the directive. The apex bank described the measure as critical to preventing service outages that inconvenience millions of users and undermine confidence in electronic payments, saying the dual-connectivity framework will provide a more reliable and efficient PoS ecosystem for the country.
