CBN Clamps On POS To Checkmate “Yahoo Boys’, Terrorists, Others

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has directed all Point of Sale, PoS, terminals in the country be geo-tagged within 60 days. The order was in line with the apex bank’s concerted efforts to curb growing fraud through the POS operators, sectors’ analysts said.

Money launderers, Internet fraudsters, also known as ‘Yahoo Boys’ have lately being using the POS to perpetuate fraud.

Also, terrorists were also believed to be using POS terminals to move billions of illicit funds they use for their criminal activities in the country.

The directive, which affects licensed operators including Moniepoint, OPay, PalmPay, and commercial banks, requires that every PoS device currently in circulation be registered with its exact GPS coordinates. New PoS devices must also be geo-tagged before activation.

The Yemi Cardoso-led CBN warned in the circular that POS operators who failed to comply within the October 20 , 2025 deadline set by the apex bank will be deactivated from the nation’s financial system.

“The move is meant to curb fraud, stop the use of cloned or ‘ghost’ terminals, and make it easier to track transactions in real time,” the CBN said.

Checks by the magazine revealed that POS fraud cases and associated losses have largely increased in the country, with the total amount involved  rising significantly in the first half of 2024 to billions of naira.

In Q2 2024, fraud cases, particularly mobile and POS-related, reached N56.3 billion in value, and N42.6 billion was lost. In Q3 2024, the total amount involved in fraud surged to N115.9 billion. This surge is partly a result of the expanding use of POS terminals, which are targeted by increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals, according to analysts who spoke on the issue.

According to checks from the CBN records, POS terminals handled transactions worth N223.27 trillion in 2024, representing a significant increase from the N110.35 trillion recorded in 2023.

The total number of POS transactions, according to figures from the apex bank also rose from 9.85 billion in 2023 to 13.08 billion in 2024, indicating a 32.7 per cent increase year-on-year.