As many businesses in Nigeria continue to adopt the E-payment system, where customers can pay for goods and services without the use of physical cash, this has resulted in a 40 percent increase in electronic transactions, when compared to N145.8 trillion recorded in the same period of 2021.
Data from the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) disclosed that transactions worth N204.5 trillion were performed electronically in Nigeria between January and July this year, through the NIBSS instant payment platform (NIP).
Similarly, NIP volume rose to 2.7 billion in seven months, showing a 42 percent increase over 1.9 billion recorded in the corresponding period last year.
Over the years, Nigerian banks have exposed NIP through their various channels, such as Mobile Apps, Bank Branch, Internet Banking, Supplementary Service Data (USSD), PoS, and ATMs to their customers.
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Last year, Nigeria was among the African countries that recorded high online payment methods. 35 percent of E-commerce payments occurred by card, and 21 percent by bank transfer, the NIBSS disclosed that the value of electronic transactions recorded was a reflection of the increase in the volume of deals within the period.
The adoption of the cashless economy by the Apex bank in 2011, was to increase the operational efficiency of the monetary policy, provide alternatives that aid easy transaction less and greater reach, improve financial inclusion, etc.
However, this policy has no doubt encouraged the use of electronic platforms for settlement or payment for goods and services.
The surge of electronic transactions has also caused the loss of transactions with Cheques, which has continued to maintain its downward trend from N1.83 in the first seven months of 2022 to N1.84 in the same period of 2021.
On the other hand, aside from the fact that there is a surge in electronic transactions in Nigeria, in Africa, its rapidly expanding population has made Africa’s digital payments system one of the quickest in the world.
