The Central Financial institution of Nigeria (CBN) plans to recertify all active POS terminals throughout the nation, two sources conversant in the dialog informed TechCabal. A part of that course of will embrace an replace to issuing terminal identification numbers (TID) — a singular eight-digit identifier — and accumulating data akin to BVN and tax identification numbers from POS brokers.

“This implies you could request TID for every service provider with their particulars and anticipate NIBSS to generate it earlier than they will assign a terminal to that service provider,” one particular person conversant in the CBN’s plans stated. 

Prior to now, cellular cash operators like Opay or Palmpay usually requested TIDs in bulk to assign terminals shortly, however recertification will imply acquirers (banks and cellular cash operators) need to register every TID individually. Registration requires the supply of an deal with, BVN or Tax Identification Quantity (TIN), enterprise title, and F1 Code of the buying financial institution. 

The validation of a POS terminal delivered to a selected location could be dealt with by licenced Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs) like Interswitch, ETOP, or CitiServe. 

“Banks will usually choose and map every terminal registration with a selected PTSP that units it up, deploys, and continues to help the service provider. PTSPs are additionally the bridge to terminal procurement from the OEM as banks/acquirers weren’t allowed to interact straight with OEM for procurement,” a product supervisor at a fintech startup stated. 

Whereas there isn’t any timeline given by the CBN for the graduation of the recertification train, TechCabal discovered that the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) was mandated by the CBN to give you a geofencing plan that ensures that terminals should not used outdoors the places the place they’re registered. The terminals, as soon as licensed, can solely be used within the location the place it’s deployed. If the POS terminal is used outdoors the deal with or location, NIBSS will disable it.

Whereas the timeline of recertification is unclear, cellular cash brokers shall be requested to supply extra data as a part of their KYC to allow them to function Tier-3 accounts. A Tier-3 account permits transactions of as much as ₦1 million, and prospects can maintain as much as ₦1 billion in deposits. 

Prior to now, brokers have been allowed to function any degree of tiered accounts offered that correct KYC was achieved and needed documentation was achieved. Tier-1 accounts are the preferred amongst brokers as a result of they require minimal documentation to open and function. The recertification is more likely to push brokers in the direction of working extra Tier-3 accounts. 

The plan additionally mandates the audit of brokers and evaluate of their processes by acquirer banks, Tremendous Brokers, and MMOs to align with the proposed recertification program and past. 

Cell cash operators who spoke to TechCabal on situation of anonymity stated they’re nonetheless attempting to get clarification on among the options of the certification train for POS terminals.