The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a fresh directive mandating all participants in the country’s payment ecosystem to complete migration to the ISO 20022 messaging standard and implement mandatory geo-tagging of payment terminals by October 31, 2025.

In a circular published on its official website on Tuesday, the apex bank reminded Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Microfinance Banks (MFBs), Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), Switching and Processing Companies, Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs), Payment Solution Service Providers (PSSPs), Super Agents, and other licensed operators that ISO 20022 is now the global benchmark for payments messaging.

The circular was signed by Dr Rakiya O. Yusuf, Director of the Payments System Supervision Department at the CBN and dated August 25, 2025.

According to the document, the move aligns with SWIFT’s global migration timeline and is intended to standardise quality data across Nigeria’s financial system.

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

Institutions are also required to ensure accurate population of mandatory data elements, including payer and payee identifiers, merchant and agent identifiers, and transaction metadata.

The CBN stressed that compliance with these requirements is not optional, warning that all in-scope institutions must complete migration activities and achieve full compliance before the October 31 deadline.

Beyond messaging standards, the circular also introduces mandatory geo-tagging of payment terminals to enhance oversight and curb fraud in the electronic payments space.

All existing and newly deployed payment terminals are required to have native geolocation services enabled, supported by double-frequency GPS receivers. Terminals must also be registered with a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) with precise latitude and longitude coordinates tied to merchant business locations.

Also, the CBN mandated that Android OS version 10 is now the minimum software requirement for all terminals to ensure compatibility with the National Central Switch’s geolocation monitoring system.

Terminals not directly routed through a PTSA will not be permitted to transact, while geo-location data is to be captured at the point of transaction and included in the message payload as a mandatory reporting field.

“All existing terminals must be geo-tagged within 60 days of this circular; new terminals going forward must be geo-tagged before certification and activation,” the CBN stated.

Also, the regulator announced that compliance validation exercises will commence from October 20, 2025.

The circular emphasised that these reforms are aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s payments infrastructure, boosting transparency, and aligning with international best practices.

Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025, the new insurance law, has provided up to N2 million in medical compensation for  victims of road accidents involving uninsured vehicles.

This law aims to ensure that accident victims are not left without financial support for their medical treatment simply because the at-fault vehicle was uninsured.

It provides a safety net to protect innocent victims and ease their burden during recovery.

According to NIIRA 2025, any person involved in a motor accident caused by an uninsured vehicle or unidentified driver will henceforth be entitled to hospital expenses that shall not exceed N2 million.

Section 99 of the Act stated that the amount may be reviewed by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

It said a fund known as the Road Accident Victims Compensation Fund was established, and insurers are to pay 0.5 per cent of the underwriting profit on motor business to the fund’s pool.

The Act established the Road Safety and Accident Victims Compensation Committee (RSAVCC) which would be responsible for overseeing the management of the fund, even as it stresses that, NAICOM shall pay compensation in accordance with its regulations to any person in respect of death or bodily injury following a motor vehicle accident caused by an uninsured vehicle or unidentified driver.

The Act stipulates that expenses reasonably incurred by a hospital known to have treated any person involved in any motor accident by an uninsured vehicle or unidentified driver must be settled from the fund.

The NIIRA 2025 is a transformative new law signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu aimed at modernising and strengthening Nigeria’s insurance sector.

It consolidates several outdated insurance laws into a single, modern legal framework designed to drive financial stability, economic development, and inclusive growth in the insurance industry while supporting Nigeria’s goal of becoming a $1 trillion economy.

Key features of the NIIRA 2025 include: Higher capital requirements for insurance companies to ensure their financial soundness, with minimum capital thresholds set based on risk profiles (e.g., non-life insurance operators must have at least N25 billion); Mandatory enforcement of compulsory insurance policies, expanding coverage categories to include sectors like agriculture, public infrastructure, and cyber liability; Digitisation mandates improving access, reducing inefficiencies, and combating insurance fraud through digital value chains from underwriting to claims processing; Strict enforcement of timely claims settlements to enhance consumer protection.

Creation of policyholder protection funds to safeguard customers in cases where insurers become insolvent; More demanding licensing requirements and penalties for acting without proper authorisation in the insurance business as well as Expanded participation in regional insurance schemes, including the ECOWAS Brown Card System, to promote cross-border insurance cooperation.

The Act is designed to boost investor confidence, increase insurance penetration across Nigeria, and position Nigeria as a leading insurance hub within Africa.

Miden Systems Limited, an Abuja-based firm, has dragged Sterling Bank Limited and some of its management staff before the Chief Magistrate’s Court, Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, over allegations of conspiracy, forgery, fraud, criminal breach of trust, and misappropriation of funds running into over $200m.

The case, presided over by Magistrate Njideka Duru, was slated for hearing on Monday but was stalled due to the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Conference in Enugu.

The matter was subsequently adjourned to September 10 for mention.

In a 29-page charge filed through its counsel, Louis Alozie, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Miden Systems accused the bank, its Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, and four others of using the company’s name to illegally open accounts and siphon its domiciled funds.

The complainant alleged that the defendants diverted foreign currency revenues meant for loan settlements for their personal gain, carried out massive unauthorized debits on its account, and deliberately denied it access to account statements despite repeated requests.

According to Miden, the bank unlawfully placed a lien on all its accounts without notice, shut it out of internet banking, and even refused to issue cheque books, all in a bid to conceal suspicious transactions.

One instance cited in the charge revealed that when Miden remitted dollar revenues at a period when the exchange rate stood at N150/$1 (with the market rate at N198/$1), the bank allegedly stockpiled over N2bn in its account.

By the time the naira had depreciated to nearly N500/$1, the bank reportedly sold the funds at the higher rate, rendering the original value of the dollars “almost worthless.”

The company also accused the bank of fabricating a N30m loan facility in its name barely three months after it had cleared all outstanding loans in 2017. It contended that the loan was unsolicited, unauthorized, and approved with forged signatures purportedly belonging to its Board of Directors.

Within days of booking the loan, the bank allegedly disbursed over N30m to a single beneficiary identified only as “AA.”

Similarly, Miden claimed that a separate $3m loan was fraudulently booked to another firm, Chasewood Limited, which later denied ever applying for such.

The facility was then shifted to Miden’s account on the pretext that both companies were “sister companies” — a claim Miden insists is false since the two are independent entities with no ownership ties.

In another revelation, Miden said it discovered forged documentation linked to a loan facility allegedly granted to the defendants by Afrexim Bank, involving what it described as “massive identity theft.”

The company also accused the bank of opening additional accounts in its name using a fictitious office address in Wuse 2, Abuja, unknown to it.

The company noted that after several failed attempts to resolve the matter directly with the bank, it petitioned the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions.

Following its review, the committee referred the allegations to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP). An investigation was carried out, and in February 2025, the police reportedly indicted the defendants in their report.