A sweeping new policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) could drive nearly half of the country’s Point-of-Sale (PoS) operators out of business, industry leaders and small business owners have warned.
The National President of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents of Nigeria, Fasasi Sharafadeen, said the apex bank’s recently released guidelines threaten to cripple small-scale businesses and undermine Nigeria’s drive for financial inclusion.
Under the new operational framework, PoS agents are limited to cumulative daily transactions of ₦1.2 million, while individual customer transactions cannot exceed ₦100,000. In addition, agents must conduct all operations through a dedicated account or wallet managed by their principal financial institution—a move the CBN says is designed to ensure transparency and strengthen oversight.
The central bank also announced that PoS devices would be geo-fenced, preventing them from being used outside approved locations, with implementation of the new rules scheduled for April 1, 2026.
“About 40 per cent will be out of business.”
Sharafadeen described the policy as a potential “death blow” to small operators. He particularly criticised a new “exclusivity rule”, which bars agents from working with more than one service provider—a practice currently common across the industry.
“About 40 per cent of PoS operators will be out of business,” he told Sunday PUNCH. “Many agents use multiple terminals from different providers to maintain efficiency and reliability. The new exclusivity rule will destroy that balance.”
He argued that agents often rely on multiple networks to serve customers during outages or take advantage of varying incentives. “When one service is down, another keeps them in business. This flexibility guarantees customer trust,” he said.
The association president also condemned the 10-metre geo-fencing rule as “impractical,” warning it would cripple operations in rural and semi-urban areas where access to traditional banks remains limited.
Sharafadeen accused the CBN of failing to consult key players in the informal sector before releasing the policy. “Agency banking is not owned by big corporations. It’s driven by small business owners financing their own operations,” he said.
“This will hurt our savings and survival.”
Several PoS operators echoed those concerns, warning that the new restrictions could severely cut their income and limit cash access for millions of Nigerians.
Oluwatobi, a PoS agent in Lagos, said the daily transaction cap would “significantly affect” his operations. “Sometimes I give out more than ₦1.2m a day, especially when demand is high. This policy will definitely affect my savings because we even buy cash to stay in business,” he said.
Another operator, Akiyemi Olabode, who manages three PoS terminals in Ikeja, said the rules would “hurt small operators who depend on this business for survival.”
Grace, another operator, called the measure “anti-business,” noting that many women rely on PoS services to support their families. “If I can’t give customers what they need daily, they’ll go elsewhere. My income will drop,” she said.
Fears of market domination
Sharafadeen warned that restricting agents to one principal would hand “undue advantage” to a few dominant players already controlling most of the market.
“There are over 200 service providers in Nigeria, but only about five control 70 per cent of all registered agents,” he said, warning that smaller fintechs may struggle to survive once the new rules take effect.
Experts divided
Reactions among financial experts have been mixed. A former CBN director, Akpan Ekpo, said the policy could be justified if it aims to improve monitoring and reduce cash circulation. “Before PoS, people used banks. The CBN should, however, focus on making ATMs work efficiently,” he said.
Similarly, Olawale Ajayi, head of strategy at the Lagos Business School, said the reforms could “strengthen accountability” if properly implemented. Linking PoS agents’ Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) and Tax Identification Numbers (TINs), he argued, would help track fraud and impersonation.
But others see the move as regulatory overreach. Boniface Okezie, chairman of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, accused the CBN of “micromanaging” small businesses.
“Why should the CBN be involved in mundane things? They should focus on fixing the quality of currency in circulation and ensuring banks dispense clean notes,” he said, adding that banks already spend billions sorting bad currency—a task he insists should be handled by the apex bank.
Balancing integrity and inclusion
The CBN has defended the revised guidelines as part of efforts to safeguard the integrity of Nigeria’s fast-growing agent banking sector. But operators fear the new measures could instead choke the very system that helped extend financial access to millions excluded from the formal banking network.
As the April 2026 implementation date draws closer, tensions between regulators and operators are likely to intensify—testing the CBN’s ability to balance oversight with inclusion in one of Africa’s most dynamic fintech markets.
