The value of financial transactions through mobile devices has almost doubled in the first seven months (January-July) of 2024, a BusinessDay analysis from the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) shows.
According to the NIBSS data, the value of mobile money transfers rose by 74 percent to N41.5 trillion in the first seven months of 2024 from N23.8 trillion in the same period of last year.
During the surveyed period, NIBSS didn’t disclose the volume of mobile transfers carried out by Nigerians.
“Consumers are finding it easier, faster, and more convenient to do transfers than going physically to the banks,” said Damilola Adewale, a Lagos-based economic analyst. He added that the surge is a sign that the country’s financial inclusion is improving as more people access financial services from the comfort of their phones.
Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission shows the country had 219 million mobile connections at the end of March 2024.
Read also: Mobile money usage doubles in 3 years — EFInA
The 2021 Global Findex report by the World Bank revealed that higher adoption of mobile money drives the growth of account ownership in financial institutions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries like Nigeria.
The report showed that the country’s banked population increased by 15.6 percentage points to 45.3 percent in 2021, the highest in 10 years from 29.7 percent in 2011.
“Mobile money has become an important enabler of financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially for women, as a driver of account ownership and of account usage through mobile payments, saving, and borrowing,” it said.
In addition to growth in the mobile money segment, NIBSS data revealed that total cashless transactions surged by 84.37 percent to N572.63 trillion in the first seven months of 2024.
The seven-month figure is already close to the over N600 trillion recorded for the full year 2023,
“More consumers are shifting towards using electronic banking channels for financial transactions. So, there is an increased use of digital channels for transactions and mobile payments,” said Gbolahan Ologunro, a senior research analyst at Cordros Securities.
Epayments have continued to grow since a pandemic-induced lockdown in 2020 forced many transactions online.
In its 2021 report, ‘Instant Payments—2020 Annual Statistics,’ NIBSS asserted that COVID-19 changed the e-payments landscape and hastened the adoption of instant payments as people switched to electronic channels for funds exchange.
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