In a bid to curb frequent Point of Sale (PoS) outages, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all financial institutions, acquirers, and payment service providers to implement mandatory dual connectivity for PoS transactions within one month.
The directive, issued in a circular dated December 11, 2025, and signed by Rakiya Yusuf, Director of the Payments System Supervision Department, updates a policy first introduced in September 2024. The move is aimed at addressing service disruptions caused by reliance on a single transaction channel.
Under the new guideline, all acquirers, processors, and payment terminal service providers are required to maintain active links with both the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL). The dual connectivity framework is expected to reduce dependence on any single aggregator and enhance the stability of Nigeria’s payment infrastructure.
To ensure readiness, the CBN has mandated that institutions carry out periodic redundancy and failover tests. NIBSS and UPSL are expected to collaborate with regulated institutions to verify that systems can support uninterrupted service, with results forming part of the apex bank’s ongoing oversight.
The circular also introduces stricter reporting requirements. Both NIBSS and UPSL must notify banks immediately in the event of any downtime and submit detailed incident reports to the CBN’s Payments System Supervision Department within 24 hours, including the cause, impact, and corrective measures taken.
Industry analysts say the move could significantly reduce transaction failures and improve consumer confidence in electronic payments, particularly in high-volume retail and service sectors that have frequently experienced PoS outages.