CBN Sets Daily Transaction Limit For Contactless Payment

The Central Bank of Nigeria has set a daily cumulative limit for contactless payment.

The bank in a circular on Tuesday defined the transaction limits for contactless payment through accounts and wallets as N15,000 and daily cumulative of N50,000.

Contactless payment system are credit cards and debit cards, key fobs, smart cards, or other devices like smartphones and other mobile devices, that use radio-frequency identification or near-field communication for making secure payments.

“High-value contactless payments are transactions that exceed the above-stated limits and shall require appropriate verification and authorization. Limits above this stipulated daily cumulative limit shall be conducted using contact-based technology,” CBN said.

The CBN had in October 2022 released a ‘Draft Guidelines for Contactless Payments in Nigeria, ‘ which provides minimum standards and requirements for the operations of contactless payments in Nigeria.

Based on the guidelines, the contactless transaction is limited to only accounts or wallets that have the Bank Verification Number.

On guidelines for merchants, the CBN said any amount above the stipulated limits per transaction will request for customer’s authorisation such as PIN, token, and biometrics.

“The bank shall determine the transaction limit and cumulative daily limits for contactless payments from time to time. Stakeholders shall be permitted to set limits in line with the bank’s limits,” the document said.

Cashless transaction has begun to gain traction in Nigeria with players like Interswitch, in partnership with ProvidusBank, Mastercard and Thales Group, announcing their Tap-to-Pay service in Nigeria in 2022.

Now-Now, a Nigerian Company that offers Tap-and-Pay services raised $13m seed to increase the adoption of Contactless Payment in Nigeria.