NIGERIA: New guideline imposes liability on merchants over fraudulent e-payments

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that merchants would be held liable in case of  fraudulent contactless payments arising from connivance or negligence during transactions.

The CBN disclosed this yesterday in its draft guidelines for contactless payments in the country.

The apex bank in a circular announcing the guidelines defined contactless payments as  an innovative payment option without physical contact between the payer and the acquiring devices for safe and efficient conduct of low value large-volume payments.  

Examples of contactless payment instruments include prepaid, debit and credit cards, stickers, fobs, wearable devices, tokens and mobile electronic devices.  

The CBN noted that the draft Guidelines were conceived to ensure that participants in contactless payments implement appropriate risk management processes and measures while keeping to the best relevant standards. 

The Guidelines reads: “Merchants who engage in contactless payments, shall ensure that deployed devices and applications are available for contactless payments of goods and services; The contactless payment device shall request the customer’s authorization ( such as Personal Identification Number [PIN], tokens. biometrics, etc.) where the transaction amount is greater than stipulated limits per transaction/day.

“Merchants shall   be held liable for fraudulent contactless payments arising from negligence/connivance; Contactless payment transaction on value and associated charges shall be clearly   communicated to the customer prior to consummation of transaction; Merchants that accept contactless payments shall   exercise due diligence in carrying out contactless payment transactions.”

SOURCE: VANGUARDNEWS / By Elizabeth Adegbesan