E-payment transactions increased by 836% in four years — CBN
…Commits towards continued implementation of programmes to drive innovation
… Says e-naira is compatible with all generations of mobile devices
By Sodiq Adelakun
The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has said that the electronic transaction volumes in Nigeria increased by 836 per cent between 2017 and 2021.
The CBN boss disclosed this yesterday at the 34th seminar organised for finance correspondents and business editors on Tuesday in Calabar, Cross River.
The Governor was represented by the Director, of the Monetary Policy Department of the CBN, Dr Mahmud Hassan, in the event themed “Implementing a Robust Payment Architecture: Prospects, Opportunities and Challenges.”
Emefiele said CBN is committed towards continued initiation and implementation of several programmes that help to drive innovation, citing that CBN has also met emerging market needs in the payment system landscape as a tool for financial inclusion.
He added, “Thus, many payment products that are found in the country are now readily available in some other economies.
“These include the Instant Payment, the QR codes, the Central Bank Digital Currency (eNaira).
“These efforts have culminated in a significant increase in the total volume of transactions and electronic payment channels.”
He added that the use of cash and cheques continued to diminish, as web-based transactions such as PoS, NIP, ATM and MMO have increased substantially, saying:
“For instance, between 2021 and 2017, the volume of transactions via electronic channels such as ATM, POS, WEB, MMO and NIP increased by 99.76, 1,775.72, 35,502.58, 2,413.44 and 836.50 per cent, respectively,”
Meanwhile, Emefiele said that the eNaira accounts for this significant achievement in payment system infrastructure urging that today, one does not need a smartphone to use the enaira as it has become compatible with all generations of mobile devices, including future phones.
“Today, over 1.4 million transactions have passed through the enaira platform.”
Electronic payment transactions in Nigeria rose to N387 trillion in 2022, hitting an all-time high as more Nigerians embrace cashless payments.
According to the data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), the value recorded on the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) represents a 42 per cent increase over the N272 trillion recorded in 2021.
Nigerians spent a total of N42 trillion on electronic channels in December 2022. This came as the all-time high monthly record on the NIBSS electronic payment platform.
The volume of transactions processed by NIBSS for the year also jumped from 3.4 billion in 2021 to 5.1 billion in 2022. This represents a 50 per cent increase year on year.
