POS transactions hit N6.9trn in 3 years

The Point of Sale (PoS) transactions between 2017 and 2019 have increased to N6.9 trillion. The latest industry statistics by Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) shows that the upward trend in electronic payment via PoS persisted last year.

Further finding revealed that, N1.41trillion value of transactions was carried out on PoS in 2017, while in 2018, the figure increased by 65.8 per cent to N2.32trillion.

However, the total value of PoS transactions increased significantly to N3.2trillion in 2019.

For the first time in PoS transaction, the NIBSS recorded over N300billion value of transaction between November and December 2019 amidst N50 extra charge imposed on banks customers by merchants at filing stations and supermarkets.

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It was gathered that, N303.8 billion and N372.69 billion PoS transactions were reported between November and December 2019.

On volume, the latest report by NIBSS shows an increase of 53.4 per cent between 2018 and 2019.

According to NIBSS, a total of 438.6billion transactions were conducted on PoS in 2019 as against 285.89 billion and 146.26billion reported between 2018 and 2017 respectively.

Investigation shows that volume of transactions crossed the 20million mark in 2019 and rose to 46.14million in December 2019.

NIBSS also revealed that 446,453 PoS registered as at December 2019 from 182,806 PoS deployed in 2017. In addition, a total of 303,162 PoS deployed as at December 2019 from 223,098 reported by NIBSS in January 2019.

The governor, Central Bank of Nigieria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefile in his five-year policy thrust said the apex bank is conscious that over 40 per cent of eligible Nigerians in 2015 lacked access to financial services, forcing its management to embark on a couple of steps to improve access to finance.

According to him, “Through initiatives such as the Shared Agent Network Facility(SANEF) and the launch of our policy on Payment Service Banks, which enables non-banks to provide limited financial services, we sought to encourage the use of technological tools in improving access to finance for people who live in underserved parts of the country.

“We also set up a payment services management department solely dedicated to enabling the build-up of a robust payment systems infrastructure, while seeking to contain the risk to the financial system that could emerge from the use of digital channels.

“As a result of our efforts, the total volume of retail electronic payments has witnessed a threefold increase over the last five years. New financial access points are being created in parts of the North East and North West as a result of measures deployed by the Central Bank to extend financial services to the underserved in our rural communities.”

However, the report by NIBSS said customers of the 22 commercial banks closed 4.5 million current accounts in December 2019, representing 15 per cent month-on-month decline in the total number for current accounts in November.

The commercial banks however gained 4.6 million new savings accounts in the same month, representing five percent increase in total number of bank accounts in the previous month.

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Meanwhile, Nigerians opened seven million new bank accounts in 2019, even as the value of electronic payment via Point of Sale, PoS, mobile payment operators, rose by 39 per cent to N11.53 trillion in 2019.

The NIBSS report shows that the number of current accounts dropped by 4.5 million or 15 per cent, month-on-month (m/m) to 25.3 million in December 2019, from 29.8 million in November 2019.

According to NIBSS, the number of inactive bank accounts dropped by 70,000, or 0.15 per cent to 46.72 million accounts in 2019 from 46.79 million accounts in 2018. The data also shows that the number of current accounts dropped by two per cent in 2019 to 25.3 million current accounts from 25.7 million in 2018.

However, the number of active bank accounts grew by  70,000, or 10 per cent  to 78.28 million in 2019 from 71.21 million in 2018. The number of savings account also rose by eight percent to 96 million savings accounts in 2019 from 89.12 million savings accounts in 2018.

According to NIBSS, the value of transactions through the three channels rose by 39 per cent  to N11.53 trillion in 2019 from 8.3 trillion in 2018, while the volume of the transactions increased by 55 per cent  to 181 billion transactions  in 2019 from 116.67 billion  transactions in 2018.

The CBN Governor added that, “An efficient payment system is vital to the effectiveness of monetary policy interventions. It also helps in reducing the cost involved in payment for goods and services.

“The Payment Services Management Department in the CBN will work to enable the buildup of a robust and secure payments infrastructure in Nigeria that is reliable and easy to access.

“We will reinvigorate our efforts at driving the cashless initiative across the country, due to the immense efficiency gains that will be derived from it, and the impact it could have on our financial inclusion drive. Given Nigeria’s large size, and the cost involved in building bank branches across the country, the payment system department would support the spread and utilization of digital modes of transactions, so that every Nigerian will have access to financial services.

“Through measures such as the cashless initiative, USSD, Mobile Banking, agent networks and Payments Service Banks, Nigerians can expect to see significant improvement in the payment systems infrastructure over the next 5 years.

“We will also work with NIBSS, Banks and Fintechs in developing a regulatory sandbox. This sandbox will enable us to test financial innovations by Fintechs and Banks in a controlled environment, in order to assess its impact on the growth and safety of our financial system.”