Nigeria’s Central Bank has adjusted one of the key operational rules governing Point-of-Sale (PoS) agents, expanding the permitted distance between PoS terminals to 70 metres as part of ongoing efforts to tighten structure around the country’s fast-growing agent banking network.
The change reflects how central PoS agents have become in Nigeria’s financial system. With limited access to bank branches and ATMs in many areas, agent banking has evolved into a parallel infrastructure for everyday transactions, from cash withdrawals and deposits to transfers and bill payments. This expansion has helped deepen financial inclusion, but it has also created regulatory pressure around supervision, fraud control, and operational consistency.
By widening the allowable operating distance, the Central Bank is effectively refining how PoS clusters are managed in dense commercial areas. In many parts of Nigeria, especially urban centres, PoS terminals often operate in close proximity to each other, sometimes within a few metres, leading to concerns about overcrowding, inefficiency, and monitoring challenges.
The adjustment is likely to affect how agents set up their businesses, particularly in high-traffic zones where competition for customers is already intense. For operators, the rule may influence location strategies, rent decisions, and how they structure partnerships with super agents and payment service providers. For customers, the change is unlikely to be immediately visible, but it could gradually reshape accessibility and distribution of service points.
The move also fits into a broader regulatory pattern where the Central Bank is trying to formalise Nigeria’s informal financial service layer without slowing its growth. Agent banking has expanded rapidly over the past decade, but regulators have consistently raised concerns around identity verification, transaction monitoring, and the potential for misuse in cash-heavy environments.
As Nigeria continues to rely heavily on PoS networks for last-mile financial access, small operational changes like this carry outsized weight. They quietly determine how close financial services are to consumers, how competitive the space becomes, and how effectively regulators can maintain oversight without disrupting access.
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