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Transactions through electronic payment (e-payment) channels in the country rose by 10.10 per cent, or N10.03 trillion, to N109.08 trillion in October 2024, from the N99.08 trillion recorded in the previous month.
E-payment transactions data obtained from the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) attributed the increase in the value to the rapid adoption of Point of Sales (PoS) by merchants and growing use of PoS for withdrawals.
An analysis shows that NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) transactions rose by 10.44 per cent to N103.21 trillion in October from N93.47 trillion in September.
A report by Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC) cited the festive season (preparations for Christmas) as one of the contributory factors to the higher value of e-payment transactions recorded last month.
The report also indicates that the value of transactions through Point Of Sale (POS) terminals, surged last month, as it increased by 49.03 per cent to N1.84 trillion in October compared to N1.23 trillion in the previous month.
Similarly, the value of cheque transactions also headed north in October, rising by 14.83 per cent to N305.33 billion from N265.90 billion in September.
However, according to the report, transactions through Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT), fell by 9.43 per cent to N3.73 trillion in October from N4.12 trillion in the previous month.
Further analysis of the data shows that the total value of e-payment transactions generally maintained an upward trend this year. Indeed, in an earlier report, FDC had noted that the total value of epayment transactions “has been increasing steadily since July 2023.”
Analysts note that there has been increased adoption of e-payment in the country in recent years, occasioned by factors such as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) initiatives to promote the cashless policy, the impact of the 2020 Covid-19 crisis and the naira redesign programme introduced by the apex bank in late 2022.
In its report titled, “Instant Payments – 2020 Annual Statistics”, the NIBSS, for instance, stated: “The Covid-19 pandemic changed the epayments landscape, accelerating the adoption of instant payments as more people transitioned to electronic channels for funds exchange in the wake of government-imposed lockdowns.”
New Telegraph reports that implementation challenges with the CBN’s naira redesign policy led to an acute shortage of cash, thereby crippling economic activities across the country in the first quarter of last year, and forcing bank customers, who were unable to access cash at the time, to adopt e-payment channels.
Consequently, data released by the NIBSS indicates that the value of electronic payment transactions surged year-on-year (YoY) by 298 percent to N135.52 trillion in the first quarter of 2023 from N34.04 trillion in the corresponding period of 2022.
In fact, there are indications that lingering cash scarcity in the banking system was responsible for the reported surge in the value of PoS transactions last month as more people became banking agents or PoS merchants to meet increased demand for cash from bank customers who are frustrated by their inability to withdraw cash from ATMs or banking halls.
Commenting on the lingering cash scarcity while briefing journalists at the post MPC meeting press conference in September, CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, said the apex bank would distribute N1.4 trillion in the next three months to aid cash flow within the banking system, stressing that banks do not have any excuse not to dispense cash.
He said: “Another N1.4 trillion is likely to be delivered in another three months to aid that whole process of cash within the system. “So from our perspective, we are doing everything possible to ensure that there is sufficient cash in the system.
There is no excuse for not having sufficient cash in the system. “Now it goes to the deployment of that cash and quite frankly, we are working very, very closely, we are engaging with all the deposit money banks to ensure that they are putting these things through their ATMs, effectively dispensing cash to those that are in need.
“And whether they are in need or not, that’s the function of the deposit money banks. And at all points in time, there should be sufficient cash in their system that nobody should go there without being able to withdraw.”
Cardoso disclosed that a monitoring system has been put in place to check the services of the banks, adding that there will be sanctions if any FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2024 NEW TELEGRAPH bank fails to dispense cash.
“We ourselves, have devised a monitoring system, a spotchecking system, whereby we will go to the banks and just ensure that these things are done in the way and manner in which they are meant to be done.
“And if they are not, again, there will be sanctions but I believe that at the stage we are in now, everybody realises that stakeholders play their part in ensuring that cash gets to the desired places they are intended to be,” he said.
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