The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems has announced that Nigerians spent a total of N89.5 trillion through electronic channels in July 2024.
This significant figure underscores the growing reliance on digital transactions among consumers and businesses, reflecting a broader trend towards cashless payments in the country, according to Nairametrics.
According to the latest e-payment data, the N89.5 trillion recorded in July 2024 marks an all-time high monthly transaction value on the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) platform.
This figure represents an impressive 89% increase year-on-year, compared to the N47.4 trillion recorded during the same period last year, highlighting the rapid growth of electronic payment adoption in Nigeria.
The July record boosted the total value of electronic transactions in Nigeria to N566.3 trillion for the period from January to July 2024. This figure is already approaching the N600 trillion recorded for the entire year of 2023, with five months still remaining in this year.
Additionally, the volume of NIP transactions processed by NIBSS increased significantly, rising from 743 million in July 2023 to 907 million in July 2024. This marks a 22% year-on-year increase, further illustrating the rapid growth of electronic payment systems in the country.
Industry analysts attribute the surge in e-payment transactions to the recent cash crunch and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cashless policy, which restricts daily cash withdrawals.
Under the revised cashless policy, implemented on January 9, 2023, individual cash withdrawals are limited to N500,000 per week, while corporate organizations face a N5 million weekly withdrawal cap.
This regulatory framework is driving more consumers and businesses to adopt electronic payment methods as they adapt to the new cash limits.
A Lagos-based financial analyst, Mr. Adewale Adeoye, said the non-availability of cash in banks like it used to be has been pushing more Nigerians to embrace cashless payment.
He noted that individuals who urgently need cash are increasingly turning to Point of Sale (PoS) operators, using their cards or transferring funds into accounts to receive cash.
“It is expected that electronic transactions will continue to go up since banks are not willing to release cash like before. Aside from the CBN withdrawal limit, if you enter a bank today to withdraw cash, they may tell you that you can’t collect more than N5,000 over the counter.
“So, you are forced to use ATMs, which in most cases are also short of cash. If all that fails, you start looking for PoS operators or you resort to doing mobile transfers,” he said.
The NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) is an account-number-based, online real-time inter-bank payment solution developed by NIBSS in 2011. It has become the preferred funds transfer platform in Nigeria’s financial industry, guaranteeing instant value to beneficiaries.
Over the years, Nigerian banks have integrated NIP into various channels, including internet banking, bank branches, kiosks, mobile apps, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Point of Sale (PoS) terminals, and ATMs, providing customers with multiple options for accessing this efficient payment system.
