The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday released guidelines on procedures for the operation of switching services in the country.
The bank said in a circular posted on its website that the guidelines included the rights and obligations of the parties to the switching contract.
According to the bank, the guidelines compel switching companies to meet with minimum standards as approved.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that switching companies are to ensure the maintenance of adequate and reasonable financial services to the public. They are also to ensure high standards of conduct and management throughout the banking system.
On license of switching companies, the CBN said they should obtain that from the bank.
The CBN added that parties to transaction switching include, but not limited to Nigeria Central Switch, switching companies, card issuers and merchant acquirers.
The bank, however, said the switching companies had to ensure compliance with minimum standards as provided in these guidelines.
It also said that the switching companies should enter into agreement with member institutions, and specify the responsibilities of each party.
The bank added that operational rules, procedures and liabilities in the event of loss of funds arising from negligence should also be specified.
The CBN said that the companies should ensure that all notifications and information that its employees had obtained in the course of discharging their responsibilities were treated as confidential.
It added that the switch companies should establish adequate security procedures to ensure the safety and security of its information and those of its clients.
The CBN said that the procedure should include physical, transactions, logical, network and enterprise security.
It also advised that they submit to the CBN, their security plans and periodic updates, adding that any security breach should have a record and such instances shall be reported to CBN for record purposes.
