The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced a stringent new set of guidelines for agent banking operations, a major regulatory overhaul designed to tighten controls, enhance transparency, and curb risks within the rapidly expanding Point-of-Sale (PoS) sector. The regulations, released on October 6, 2025, primarily focus on mandating exclusivity for agents and establishing clear transaction limits.
The Exclusivity Mandate
The most impactful change is the exclusivity rule, which will force the country’s estimated two million PoS agents to partner with only one financial institution.
- Restriction: PoS operators are now restricted to working with a single “principal” which may be a licensed bank, a mobile money operator (like Moniepoint, OPay, or PalmPay), a microfinance bank, or a payment service bank.
- Effective Date: Agents have been given a grace period, with the exclusivity clause officially taking effect on April 1, 2026.
- Purpose: This move is aimed at improving oversight and making it easier for financial institutions to monitor their agents, particularly in the enforcement of transaction limits and the clear demarcation of agent activities from merchant transactions.
Super Agents—entities licensed to manage and aggregate agents—are also prohibited from offering agent banking services directly. While an individual agent may only belong to one super agent network, super agents themselves can still partner with multiple principals.
New Transaction Limits and Controls
To manage liquidity, mitigate money laundering risks, and improve financial controls, the CBN has set firm limits on daily transactions for both agents and customers:
- Agent Daily Cash-Out Limit: A maximum daily cash-out limit for the PoS agent is set at ₦1.2 million.
- Customer Transaction Limits:
- Cash-in, Cash-out, and bill payments are capped at ₦100,000 per day.
- The weekly limit for these transactions is set at ₦500,000.
- Operational Requirement: All agent transactions must be conducted through a dedicated, monitored agent account or wallet maintained with their principal institution. Any transaction outside this approved channel will be considered a regulatory breach.
Stricter Compliance and Supervision
The new framework introduces several other compliance and operational requirements:
- Tougher Eligibility: To qualify, agents must not have non-performing loans within the preceding 12 months, must not be bankrupt, and must not have a flagged or blacklisted Bank Verification Number (BVN).
- Physical Location: Agents must operate from an agreed, defined location, which cannot be lower than a kiosk. Non-individual agents (like retail outlets) must restrict operations to their registered business premises.
- Tracking and Geo-Fencing: Payment Terminal Service Aggregators (PTSAs) have been formally recognized and are responsible for registering and geo-locating all PoS terminals to curb fraud and enhance payment tracking.
- Branding: Agents must clearly display the names and logos of their sole principal/super agent, a list of services, applicable charges, and customer support contacts. They are also prohibited from using misleading terms like “bank” or “finance” that suggest they are a financial institution.
These comprehensive guidelines replace all previous agent banking regulations, signaling the CBN’s resolve to stabilize the financial system and reinforce oversight of the sector, which now handles transactions worth trillions of Naira. FOR MORE INFORMATION, I RECOMMEND SONGBUX.