The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all licensed payment operators to fully adopt ISO 20022 standards and geo-tagging by October 31, 2025.
The circular, signed by Dr Rakiya O. Yusuf, Director of Payments System Supervision Department, was published on August 25, 2025, via the CBN’s official website.
It mandates Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Microfinance Banks (MFBs), Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), Switching and Processing Companies, Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs), Payment Solution Service Providers (PSSPs), Super Agents, and other participants to transition before the deadline.
The CBN said the migration aligns with the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) global standards and aims to improve data quality.
“All payment transaction messages exchanged domestically or internationally must be formatted in ISO 20022 in line with CBN and SWIFT specifications,” the circular stated.
Institutions must populate mandatory fields such as payer and payee identifiers, merchant identifiers, and transaction metadata to ensure message accuracy.
ALSO READ
The CBN stressed that compliance is not optional and warned that institutions unable to meet the deadline will face regulatory action.
Beyond messaging, the circular requires all payment terminals to support geo-tagging with double-frequency GPS and Android 10 or higher.
Terminals must be registered with a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) and tied to business locations using latitude and longitude coordinates.
Transactions on non-geo-tagged terminals will not be permitted, and geo-location data must be included in all transaction payloads.
Existing payment terminals must be geo-tagged within 60 days of the circular, while new ones must comply before certification and activation.
The apex bank added that compliance validation exercises will commence on October 20, 2025, ahead of the final migration deadline.
According to the CBN, the reforms are designed to strengthen the country’s payments system, improve transparency, and align with international standards.
ISO 20022 is a global financial messaging format that allows richer transaction details, reducing errors and strengthening fraud detection mechanisms.
Geo-tagging links payment terminals to exact GPS locations, ensuring oversight, curbing fraud, and aiding financial inclusion by mapping coverage gaps.
Both initiatives are intended to modernise Nigeria’s payments infrastructure, ensuring safer, faster, and more reliable financial transactions.
