Reports gathered from the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS),
have revealed that Nigeria’s electronic payment (e-payment) services,
recorded transactions worth N56.85 trillion from January to September,
2018.
The report which was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) on Sunday, showed an increase of N16.4 trillion compared to the
N40.45 trillion that was recorded in the same period of 2017.
The
report also disclosed that most of the electronic transactions were
carried out through the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP), Automated Transfer
Machines (ATMs), Point of Sales, Mobile Money, Electronic Bills Payment
(E-Bills) and Web payments.
A breakdown of the report showed that
ATMs transactions grew from N4.61 trillion in 2017 to N4.76 trillion at
the end of the third quarter of 2018. Also, the number of transactions
via ATMs under the period in review grew from N560.86 million to N650.06
million in year 2017 and 2018 respectively.
The report revealed
an increase of about N635 billion in the use of POS machines to carry
out payments by Nigerians. Under the period of review, 98.73 million
transactions worth N975 billion were done using POS in 2017, while in
2018, the number grew to 196.83 million, valued at N1.61 trillion.
Similarly,
the volume of transactions carried out by Nigerians, via mobile money
increased from N795.18 billion in 2017, to N1.22 trillion as at Sept,
2018. Also, using the web payment means, the total value of transactions
under the period in review increased from N129.24 billion in 2017, to
N183.07 billion in 2018.
Futhermore, the value of transactions on
e-bill payments, which made it possible for customers to pay utility
bills such as power, cable and so on online, declined from N420.73
billion in 2017 to N370 billion in 2018.
Meanwhile, a Business
and Financial analyst, Dr Patricia Auta, stated that the NIBSS report
showed an increase in awareness and use of technology by businesses and
individuals across Nigeria.
Dr Auta urged the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN), to increase efforts on cashless economy policies,
especially in states, to grow the electronic payment space. She also
advised commercial banks to stay competitive and drive growth by
providing innovative alternate payment channels to their customers.
Share your thoughts