Online Transactions Soaring In Nigeria Despite Love-Hate Feeling For CBN’s Cashless Policy

It appears the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make online payments the status quo in Nigeria is starting to yield fruit.

The latest data from the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement Scheme (NIBSS) shows that the value of online transactions in Nigeria hit NGN 49.35 Tn during the first 6 months of 2019.

As it is, it could be said that online transactions are increasingly becoming a mainstay in the country as the current figure betters the numbers recorded during the same period last year by nearly 34 percent. In the first half of 2018, NIBSS clocked the total online transaction value at NGN 36.49 Tn.

Additionally, online financial transaction platforms continue to witness significant adoption. The growth corresponds to the rise in the volume of payments on NIBSS’s Instant Pay which grew to 504.16 million in the first half of the year. This represents a 63.5 percent growth when the figure recorded during the same period last year is considered.

As online transactions continue to gain traction in Nigeria, cash transactions via cheques appear to be fizzling out. And that is to be expected.

The value of cash transactions via cheques suffered a decline of 11.37 percent from NGN 2.6 Tn in the first six months of 2018 to NGN 2.3 Tn during the first half of the current year.

Between January and June 2019, the volume of cheques cleared by Nigerian banks dropped by 16.7% to 3.95 million compared with 4.74 million recorded in the industry within the corresponding period in 2018.

Transactions via cheques has shrunk even further this year as shown by data on the volume of cheques cleared from January to June.

Earlier this month, data put out by the CBN revealed that electronic payment (e-payment) transactions facilitated by Nigerian banks between January and June 2019 totaled NGN 203.35 Tn.

The data showed that the deals occurred through cheques, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point of Sale (PoS), m-Cash, CentralPay, Remita, Nigeria Interbank Instant Payment (NIBSS) Instant Payment (NIP), and mobile money, among other channels.

All these form part of the CBN’s campaign to promote the widespread adoption of electronic media for financial transactions in Nigeria. And the numbers say it’s all gathering a head of steam.

Featured Image Courtesy: GuardianNG