Electronic payment transactions in Nigeria reached N600 trillion in 2023 record high as more Nigerians adopt cashless payments. According to data supplied by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), the value reported on the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) is a 55% rise from N387 trillion in 2022.
While e-payment data has steadily increased over the past year, the largest value was reported in December. Nigerians spent a total of N71.9 trillion through electronic channels in December 2023, as it was a Christmas month with lots of spending activity.
This was the highest monthly volume ever recorded on the NIBSS electronic payment infrastructure. According to NIBSS data, e-payment volume reached an all-time high of 1.1 billion in March 2023, when Nigerians faced cash scarcity and were compelled to transact via electronic channels.
However, the value for the month was not as high as that reported in December of the same year. Meanwhile, NIBSS conducted 9.7 billion transactions in 2023, up from 5.1 billion in 2022. This implies a 90 percent increase year over year.
Expectedly, The value of electronic transactions soared to N48.3 trillion in March 2023, owing to the lack of currency. In April, N41.3 trillion was spent through electronic channels, while in May, transaction volume was N45.9 trillion.
The value of NIP transactions in June 2023 was N45.3 trillion, down slightly from the value recorded in May. July showed an increase in e-payment transactions to N47.4 trillion. NIP transaction value increased to N50.9 trillion in August and N51 trillion in September.
Transaction values in October and November were N59 trillion and N63.6 trillion, respectively, with the highest transaction value of N71.9 trillion recorded in December. NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) is an account-number-based, online real-time inter-bank payment mechanism developed by NIBSS in 2011.
It is the favored cash transfer platform in the Nigerian financial industry, providing the beneficiary with quick value. According to NIBSS, Nigerian banks have made NIP available to their clients via a variety of channels, including online banking, bank branches, kiosks, mobile apps, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), POS, ATM, and so on.
Aside from the cash constraint experienced in March last year, the CBN’s updated cashless policy, which limits the amount of cash that may be taken from banks daily, has fueled e-payment growth. Many Nigerians are becoming accustomed to mobile transfers, including payments via PoS and USSD.
