Volume of mobile money transfer through mobile devices in Nigeria grew significantly between January and May 2019, buoyed by rising use of cell phone users, increased acceptance by older population, safety and convenience.
According to data sourced from the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), the volume of mobile transfers spiked 114 percent to 6.2 million in the first five months of 2019, from 2.9 million in the same period of 2018. Value of transactions jumped 57.1 percent from N116.8 billion in 2018 to N183.5 billion as of May 2019.
Ayorinde Akinloye, a consumer goods analyst at Lagos-based CSL Stockbrokers, says the use of electronic payment systems is the new thing right now in the country, particularly in the financial technological space.
“This is attributed to the rising use of mobile phones users, particularly registered SIM users, and the technology in banking is gradually being accepted by so many people like the older population as they are beginning to use the USSD codes.
“Also, the younger population are now going into the labour market and as a result their income level are increasing, which has further led them to do more transactions. Cheque usage is reducing because most people are getting the E-payment systems faster compared to the paper system,” Akinloye states.
From the website of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), as of April 2019, the number of mobile subscribers was 173.4 million from 160.1 million in the same period of 2018.
Additionally, the volume of Point of Sales (POS) activities via mobile devices increased by 56.7percent to 152.6 million in the first five months of this year, from 97.4 million in same period of its previous year. Also, its value rose by 99.9 percent
Johnson Chukwu, CEO, Cowry Asset Management Limited, says people are now recognising the safety, convenience and speed of using e-payment system than in the past.
“Nigerians are now shifting from cash activities to e-payment systems, and if you look at the telecommunications subscription, data subscription and usage, you will see that there is increased penetration or usage of mobile phones,” Chukwu notes.
The NIP transactions volume and value increased by 66.4 percent and 36.2 percent, respectively. The increased use of e-payment systems is already having an impact on the use of cheques as its volumes reduced by 15 percent to 3.4 million in the first five months of 2019 from 4.0 million in 2018.
