The CBN Circular Adjusted Transfer Limit On Contactless Payment Services

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has its circular thrilling the local financial landscape with a new transaction limit for Contactless payment of N15,000 per transaction and a daily cumulative limit of N50,000 signed by the director Payment Systems Management Department, Musa Jimoh.

The CBN circular applies to contactless payment solutions through users’ accounts or wallets to observe the transaction limit of N15,000 and a daily cumulative limit of N50,000. For context, wallet owners and the typical bank account are obliged to observe this policy mandate customers can make contactless payments of up to N15,000 per transaction and up to N50,000 per day without entering their PIN or biometric verification.

While other African countries are adopting digital technology, the Nigerian government is keen on procuring security measures on available technology innovation to connect contactless payments infrastructure such as Quick Response codes (QR code) payment channel, and the Near Field Communication (NFC) payment solution that doesn’t need password input or passkey input to complete a transaction.

“Following the issuance of the Guidelines on Contactless Payments in Nigeria and cognizance of the risks associated with contactless payments, the Bank hereby defines transaction limits above which verification and authorization are required. Transaction limits for contactless payments through accounts/wallets in Nigeria shall be as follows:

Daily Cumulative Limit – N15,000Maximum Amount – N50,000

Higher-value contactless payments are transactions that exceed the above-stated limits and shall require appropriate verification and authorization.”

Without further ado, Nigerians will be obliged to input their passwords or passkeys if the transaction amount exceeds the amount reserved for contactless payment completion. At this point, the likes of FinTech solutions and real-time financial institutions are obliged to observe this protocol amount of limited Contactless payment 

However, while the CBN circular reports an updated measure for Contactless payment in the country, Jimoh also talked about Financial service providers’ compliance with the previous statute acts the CBN governor mandated in the local financial sector.