About N54.98tn was processed through Nigeria’s electronic channels in the first two months of 2022, according to data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System portal.

This is a 45.49 per cent increase from the corresponding period of 2021 when N37.79tn was processed through the nation’s electronic channels.

The NIBSS tracks payment volumes and value through the Nigeria Instant Payment System and Point of Sales terminals.

In the first two months of 2022, N53.83tn was transferred through the NIP system while N1.15tn was processed through PoS terminals.

In the corresponding period of 2021, N36.83tn was processed through the NIP system, while N958.19bn was processed through PoS terminals.

According to the data on the NIBSS portal, individuals used electronic channels 86.57 per cent more in the first two months of 2022 than they did in the corresponding period of 2021.

In the first two months, electronic channels were used 882.99 million times. In the corresponding period of 2021, they were used 473.27 million times.

The data also revealed that agent banking was on the rise. Of the 986,252 registered PoS in the nation, an all-time high of 955,234 was deployed in January 2022. This is 100.89 per cent from the 475,494 that was recorded in January 2021.

According to the NIBSS, electronic payment adoption has been on a rise since the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a report NIBSS titled, ‘Instant Payments – 2020 Annual Statistics’, the NIBSS disclosed that mobile is driving electronic payments in the nation. Accounting for 43 per cent of total transactions in 2020, while 35 per cent of transactions were with USSD, indicating 78 per cent of total transfer transactions were carried out using mobile devices.

According to GSM Association, the global body for telecommunication companies, mobile money transactions hit more than $1tn in 2021.

It added that Nigeria and other countries in the Sub-Saharan region contributed N697.7bn to total mobile money value in 2021.

It said, “Mobile money customers are also more active users. The proportion of accounts active on a 90-day basis has grown from 26 per cent to 38 per cent between 2012 and 2021, and from 20 per cent to 26 per cent for monthly (30-day) active accounts in the same time period.”

According to the association, active agents have grown by more than 10 times, from 534,000 in 2012 to 5.6 million in 2021.

GSMA stated, “Between 2012 and 2021, the number of active agents grew more than 10 times, from 534,000 to 5.6 million, unlocking access to financial services for the most underserved customers.

“Despite closures and restrictions on movement during the COVID-19 pandemic, the value cashed in and digitised via mobile money agent networks grew by 18 per cent in 2021, reaching a total of $261bn or more than $715m a day. Even the most established agent networks registered strong growth, with the 25 largest networks growing by more than 25 per cent on average from 2020 to 2021.”

First Publised on Punch