By Martin Ekpeke
Cashless transactions in Nigeria surged to N295 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, according to a new report from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS). This marks a significant increase from the N237.11 trillion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2024, highlighting a growing reliance on digital payments across the country.
Key highlights from the NIBSS report:
The NIBSS report reveals several key indicators of Nigeria’s accelerating shift towards a cashless economy:
- Total Cashless Transactions: Electronic payment channels facilitated a staggering N295 trillion in transactions during Q1 2025.
- Electronic Payment Channel Usage: Electronic payment channels were utilized 2.21 billion times in the first quarter.
- Active Bank Accounts: The number of active bank accounts in Nigeria climbed to 320 million in Q1 2025.
- Point-of-Sale (PoS) Transactions: PoS terminals recorded 776.94 million transactions, with a total value of N10.45 trillion in Q1 2025. This represents a remarkable 209% increase compared to N3.62 trillion in Q1 2024.
- Growth in Electronic Payments: Electronic payment transactions (NIP) surged to N284.99 trillion in Q1 2025, a 17.7% year-on-year increase from N234.49 trillion in Q1 2024.
Monthly Breakdown of Electronic and PoS Transactions indicates that January 2025: N100.06 trillion, February 2025: N88.87 trillion (slight decline attributed to fewer days) and March 2025: N96.07 trillion.
Compared to 2024, NIP transactions showed consistent growth in January 2024: N72.11 trillion, February 2024: N79.33 trillion and March 2024: N83.05 trillion.
Point-of-Sale (PoS) Transactions in January 2025: N4.12 trillion, February 2025: N3.12 trillion and March 2025: N3.22 trillion.
In comparison, PoS transaction values in 2024 were significantly lower in January 2024: N850.09 billion, February 2024: N805.05 billion and March 2024: N961.86 billion.
An increase in active terminals mirrors the surge in PoS transactions. For example, in January 2025: 5.5 million terminals, February 2025: 5.8 million terminals and March 2025: 5.9 million terminals.
This is a substantial increase from 2024, when there were 2.4 million active terminals in January, 2.5 million in February, and 2.6 million in March.
The NIBSS report aligns with data from ACI Worldwide, which forecasts that the volume of Nigeria’s real-time payment transactions will reach 19.7 billion by 2028, a significant jump from 7.9 billion in 2023. ACI Worldwide noted, “In Nigeria, real-time payments are quickly becoming a viable alternative to cash, historically the dominant choice for payments in the country.”
This comprehensive data underscores Nigeria’s rapid transition towards a more integrated and digitally driven financial ecosystem, with consumers increasingly embracing digital platforms for their transactions.