Figures from the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) reveal that a total of ₦80.4 trillion, up from ₦56.17 trillion in 2017, was moved through the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP).
Launched in 2011 as an online-real-time inter-bank payment solution, NIP has proven to be an effective means of transferring funds over the years with wide adoption by banking customers in the country. From ₦19.92 trillion in 2014, the total value transaction through the channel grew by 303% in four years.
While the value and volume of transactions over NIP have been growing over the years, that of the NIBSS Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) has been on a decline. Unlike NIP transactions that are instant, NEFT is a 24-hour credit transfer system. Which means a recipient won’t get the value until after a day of initiating the transaction.
From ₦12 trillion in 2015, the value of NEFT dropped to ₦11.6 trillion in 2018.
Another channel that witnessed a significant growth is the value of web payments which grew from ₦184.6 billion in 2015 to ₦404.6 billion in 2018, recording a little over hundred percent increase in three years.
But for eBillsPay, it’s a different scenario. While there was an increase in the volume of e-BillsPay, it recorded a decline in the total value for 2018. With a total value of ₦550.75 billion as of 2017, it dropped by ₦50 billion in 2018 while volume increased from 900,000 to 1.1 million.
With 8.5 million customers, mobile money operators did ₦1.8 trillion in 87.1 million transactions in 2018.
Channels in the Nigerian payment system that recorded less than a trillion naira for year 2018 include individual cheques processed, eBillsPay and web payment. Every other channel had over a trillion naira in total value with NIP having the highest at ₦80.4 trillion in 729.4 Million transaction counts.
