In a circular published on its website and signed by Rakiya Yusuf, director of the Payment System Supervision Department, the apex bank explained that the upgrade is essential to achieving Nigeria’s payments objective of ensuring standardised, high-quality data.

Referencing earlier circulars issued on July 17 and September 23, 2020, the CBN noted that all licensed operators must align with SWIFT’s global migration timelines.

“All payment transaction messages exchanged domestically or internationally must be formatted in ISO 20022 in line with CBN and SWIFT specifications.

“All Institutions shall ensure complete and accurate population of mandatory data elements, including payer/payee identifiers, merchant/agent identifiers, and transaction metadata,” it reads.

The CBN has set October 31, 2025, as the deadline for full compliance.

Additionally, the regulator mandated that all existing and newly deployed payment terminals must have native geolocation services enabled, with Double-Frequency GPS receivers for reliable tracking.

Terminals must also be registered with a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA), providing accurate latitude/longitude coordinates of merchants’s or agents’ business locations.

Operators are further required to ensure all Point of Sale (PoS) terminals and applications are duly certified by the National Central Switch to meet the prescribed standards.

Existing terminals must be geo-tagged within 60 days of this circular, while new terminals must be geo-tagged before certification and activation.

The CBN announced that compliance validation exercises will begin on October 20, 2025.

The post CBN Mandates Banks, Fintechs to Migrate POS Messaging to ISO 20022 System appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The new platform, launched in Lagos on Tuesday, is designed to replace legacy systems and consolidate digital payment processes across banks, fintechs, government agencies, and other players within the financial ecosystem. 

Unlike NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) which was built 14 years ago, the National Payment Stack is a multipurpose, real-time payment framework built from the ground up to meet current and emerging demands.

At the unveiling, NIBSS Managing Director Premier Oiwoh stressed that “It’s a transition to the future. With NPS, we didn’t just build another instant payment solution, we laid the foundation for Nigeria’s financial future,” he said.

The NPS is structured to support both bulk and single payments through one integrated rail. It also incorporates advanced messaging using ISO 20022, a global standard that improves transaction transparency, efficiency, and automation. 

Among other features, the system enables:

• Real-time transfers with instant settlement
• Request-to-Pay and Direct Debit features
• KYC verification through BVN, RC Number, or TIN
• Multi-currency functionality and potential for cross-border payments
• A sandbox environment for fintechs to integrate within 48 hours
• Enhanced fraud management and risk scoring

According to Oiwoh, “The NIBSS Payment Stack reflects our vision to equip Nigeria and Africa with a platform that not only meets global standards but speaks to our unique payment realities. From Request-to-Pay to real-time settlements, automated reconciliation, and advanced dispute management, NPS is designed to deliver smarter, faster, and more transparent payment experiences for all.”

One of the key priorities of the NPS is to strengthen digital and financial inclusion in Nigeria, a goal that aligns with the Central Bank’s financial system stability strategy. 

In enabling secure and low-cost payments, especially in underserved areas, NIBSS says the system will help the country expand its financial reach while strengthening trust across the ecosystem.

Deputy Governor of Financial System Stability at the Central Bank of Nigeria and Chairman of the NIBSS Board, Philip Ikeazor, described the development as a “transformative milestone.” He was represented at the launch by the CBN’s Director of Payment System Policy, Musa Jimoh.

“The NPS lays the foundation for deeper trust, greater inclusion, and the next wave of innovation across the digital payment landscape,” Jimoh said.

The Lagos State Government, a key supporter of fintech development in Nigeria, welcomed the initiative. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by Deputy Chief of Staff Samuel Egube, noted that the partnership between government, banks, and the private sector was critical for growth.

“This kind of strategic partnership adjusts what Nigeria and Africa need to flourish in our ever-evolving digital landscape. As the commercial heart of Nigeria, Lagos is excited to support innovations that make doing business easier, safer, more transparent, and more inclusive,” Egube said.

Created in 1993 and jointly owned by the Central Bank and licensed deposit money banks, NIBSS has consistently taken on projects to modernise Nigeria’s financial infrastructure, including the AfriGO domestic card scheme and instant POS settlement systems.

The launch of the NPS, however, is seen as its biggest move yet, one that could eventually become a model for indigenous digital public infrastructure across Africa.

With Nigeria looking to build a $1 trillion economy within the next eight years, NIBSS appears to be laying the rails, quite literally, for a payment sector that can support that vision.

The post NIBSS Unveils National Payment Stack to Modernise Nigeria’s Financial Infrastructure appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

He said to wire the money through Ecobank. Then, Ecobank was the only bank in Nigeria with a presence in Ghana. Our partner would merely walk into any Ecobank branch in Ghana on the streets of Accra and cash the fund from a teller.

It worked as if I stretched a hand in Nigeria and placed the cash in his palm in his homeland Ghana. Quite interesting. However, the sacrifice was huge. Well, Ecobank held us in a stranglehold. We had no choice. We played along. The bank won. Our partner was happy. That was in the past.

On the one hand

It is easy and cheap to make such a transfer now. Many banks offer the same service. Besides, technology has simplified banking.

But this has also attracted the attention of criminals who are searching for ways to bypass the laws and perpetuate their illegal activities.

While cross-border payment is easy in 2024, criminals are taking advantage of this to destroy economies through money laundering.

If there were no banks, how would the drug dealers and money traffickers launder their funds? Funds would be ferried across land borders. Concealed in holdall bags in the trunks of SUVs. And dry-cleaned in the open market.

On the other hand

The existence of banks has made the trade easy for criminals. The banks have become drycleaners for illicit funds. They launder illegitimate funds, making the funds disappear into the system.

As such, the introduction of ISO 20022 Payment Standard, a common, global end-to-end standard, has come to prevent the illicit business of money laundering activity. Oh, is ISO 20022 the reason banks are investing heavily in technology upgrades?

In the long term

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) adopted the standard to improve cross-border payments. The global adoption of the standard will end in 2025.

At its March 2024 meeting, the Swift Board re-confirmed the community’s commitment to ending the coexistence period in November 2025.

It emphasised that priority would go to payment instruction messages to ensure operational continuity and interoperability.

Banks around the world are migrating to ISO 20022 standard. Because corporate bodies are demanding richer, structured data to enhance their payments and reconciliation processes.

Besides, the G20 is promoting the harmonised use of the standard for enhancing cross-border payments.

For instance, NIBSS has deployed the ISO 20022 payment standard. NIBSS employed a foreign company, Payment Components, to implement the global standard. Payment Components has worked with over 65 banks and financial institutions in 25 countries.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has transferred the Kenya Electronic Payment and Settlement System (KEPSS) to the ISO 20022 platform.

Last month, Kenya’s banking industry regulator directed lenders, including microfinance institutions to start testing the upgraded system for messaging high-value financial transactions aimed at increasing the speed of transfers while heightening the checks against money laundering.

Kenya’s Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system is operated by CBK to process large-value and time-critical payments. It is the backbone of Kenya’s domestic and regional payment transactions.

The initiator of the standard, Swift, was founded in the 1970s, based on the ambitious and innovative vision of creating a global financial messaging service, and a common language for international financial messaging.

Swift and the Board have urged its members to reinforce their efforts to switch cross-border payment instructions to ISO 20022 in the next 18 months. It said it would continue to provide resources to support the community in achieving this important milestone.

Nicolas Stuckens, Head of ISO 20022 Adoption, and Data Quality at Swift explained that the standard helps the banks to reduce friction, enhance straight-through processing (STP), and better reconciliation.

The ISO20022 Standard will enhance interoperability between domestic and international payment systems, facilitating easier cross-border transactions, and increasing the ease of doing business globally.

In the short term

As a bank customer, what was your experience during this technology upgrade?

[Featured Image Credit]

*Rarzack Olaegbe, the co-founder/COO, eMaginations Comm. Ltd., wrote from Lagos

The post ISO 20022: Cross-border Payments, Money Laundering, and Drycleaners appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.