The volume of electronic bills transactions Nigerians made in July rose slightly to 79,945 from 78,079 in June which was not enough to surpass the peak set in January 2020 at 122,685 and January 2019 at 134,656.
However, the 79,945 transactions reached a historical value of N136.541 billion in July up from the closest value in June at N125.565 billion. In essence, while people are still trying to get around the idea of using online payment channels to pay for their bills, those are already doing so are willing to pay more using on those channels.
Electronic bill payment is a feature of online, mobile, and telephone banking allowing a customer of a financial institution to transfer money from their transaction or credit card account to a creditor or vendor such as a public utility, department store, or an individual to be credited against a specific account.
One of the advantages of electronic bill payment is the convenience to pay all bills from a central location, without needing to drive and join a queue at a branch of Eko Electricity or DSTv offices, etc. Users do not have to log into several websites and remember multiple passwords. They can make all payments while on Quickteller, Remita, or any of the banks’ mobile applications. Many providers also include an option to pre-schedule payments on their due date or another day of the users’ choosing. For instance, a DSTv subscriber can schedule payments for when the subscription is about to end. After scheduling a payment, the banking institution will either pay those companies electronically or send them a paper check.
The July volume data is a recovery from the massive drop in the month of May. the volume dropped to 44,465 in May representing over a 100 percent decline from January and also the first time in four years the volume has consistently failed to surpass the figures from the same period in the previous year.
