There are indications that Nigerians are fast relegating cash transaction to the background as the value of electronic payment transactions skyrockets.
According to the latest report released by the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) yesterday, value of electronic payment transactions (EPT) grew year-on-year (YoY) by 89 percent to N257.73 trillion in the first quarter of 2024 (Q1’24) from N136.2 trillion in Q1’23.
The data also showed that the value of NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) recorded high value of transactions, growing YoY by 90.8 percent to N236.46 trillion in Q1’24 from N123.9 trillion in Q1’23.
According to the report the value of Mobile Money Operations (MMO) transactions grew by 87.8 percent to N17.11 trillion in Q1’24 from N9.11 trillion in Q1’23.
The value of Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions grew by 127.9 percent to N10.1 billion in Q1’24 from N4.43 billion in Q1’23, while its volume increased by 6.7 percent to 6.46 million in Q1’24 from 6.05 million in Q1’23.
The growths signify Nigerians’ increased adoption of electronic payment channels for transactions.
Meanwhile, The value of Cheque transactions grew by 22 percent to N935.24 billion in Q1’24 from N765.9 billion in Q1’23.
But its volume of transactions fell by 16.6 percent to 900.3 million in Q1’24 from 1.08 billion in Q1’23.
However, the value of Point of Sale (PoS) transactions, the grass cash option, fell YoY by 8.09.percent to N2.61 trillion in Q1’24 from N2.84 trillion in Q1’23.
This came against the backdrop of a similar decline of 5.29 percent month-on-month recorded in February to N805 billion from N850 billion in January.
But the volume of PoS transactions increased by 4.09 percent to 313.98 million in Q1’24 from 327.4 million in Q1’23.