According to data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, cashless transactions rose by 44 percent year-on-year to hit N117.33tn in the first four months of 2022.
From January 2022 to April 2022, N117.33tn was processed through electronic channels, which is N35.79tn more than N81.54tn that was processed in the corresponding period of 2021.
These cashless transactions are monitored on the NIBSS through the Nigeria Instant Payment System and Point of Sales terminals.
In January 2022, N27.22tn was processed electronically in the nation, this increased to N27.76tn in February, N32.52tn in March, and N29.84tn in April 2022.
The NIBSS in a report titled ‘Instant Payments – 2020 Annual Statistics’, said COVID had changed the e-payments landscape and hastened the adoption of instant payments as people switch to electronic channels for funds exchange.
In the preface of a document titled, ‘Why The Central Bank of Nigeria made the Cash-less Policy,’ the CBN said Nigeria disclosed at the time that there was a need to help Nigerians migrate from a cash-based economy to an electronic-driven economy.
