Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is proposing a refreshed Payment System Vision (PSV) strategy tagged PSV 2030, as it is undertaking a review of the PSV 2020.
The PSV 2020 was created to provide a sound regulatory framework that supports innovation, protects consumers and promotes financial stability.
This is coming as ATM transactions rose by over 196 percent to 875 million in 2018 compared with 295 million in 2013. Point of Sale transactions increased by 3,076 percent from 9 million in 2013 to 285.89 million in 2018.
Also, electronic transfers via web went up by 2,440 percent from 2 million in 2013 to 50.8 million in 2018.
“We are clearly heading in the right direction,” Aisha Ahmad, CBN’s deputy governor, financial system stability, weekend in Lagos, said at the 2019 Electronic Payments Incentive Scheme Efficiency Awards, created by the Electronic Payments Incentive Scheme (EPIS) organised by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) and the CBN.
This award ceremony, she said, brings together diverse participants in the ecosystem, responsible for achieving these milestones, whilst the categories of the awards reflect the Bank’s aspirations for the payment system, recognising leaders in both bank and non-bank categories in the critical areas of driving cashless, platform efficiency, innovation and customer experience.
“Despite the progress recorded we are not yet at the goal,” she said, adding that electronic transactions are not yet at desired levels, increasing digitisation heightens cyber security threats while policy makers are faced with the twin but often conflicting objectives of fostering technological innovation whilst managing the risks to financial stability.
The payments system has changed significantly and continues to evolve. New technologies and a growing number of Financial Technology companies in the markets are supporting faster payments and settlements. Technological advancements and the adoption of mobile as the primary channel have also made it easier and cheaper to conduct electronic transactions.
Ahmad noted some of the initiatives currently being pursued by the CBN in furtherance of payment system objectives to the Shared Agent Network Expansion Facility were established in March 2018 by the body of deposit money banks, mobile money operators and super agents, to expand the number of agent outlets by 500k to support the National Financial Inclusion strategy objectives. With SANEF, the number of agents per 10,000 individuals will increase from 4 agents to 65 agents by 2020.
In a bid to leverage technology to improve access to finance in rural and under-banked communities and further expand the players and channels in the payments space, the CBN issued guidelines for Payment Service Banks (PSBs).
To achieve the objective, she said, industry operators must scale up their capacity to innovate by developing unique products that provide the convenience and security that customers desire.
At award ceremony, GTB emerged the Bank of the Year having clinched seven awards under the Cashless Driver (Bank) and Platform Efficiency (Bank) categories. The bank had won awards for the highest number of Point of Sale terminal Acquiring as well as the largest number of card usage on POS.
Also the bank clinched the highest successful transaction on direct debit, lowest failure rate on real-time transactions, USSD channel champion and Identity service driver. GTB alongside Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank and Union Bank were joint recipients of the e-references operation efficiency award.
#
Zenith Bank had clinched the award for the highest volume in bulk payments, while First Bank of Nigeria received awards for the highest volume in bill payments and the highest transaction volume in real-time payments.
