The rush for Point of Sale (PoS) use for transactions has remained dominant as data for the first quarter of 2025 revealed a 300.84 per cent surge from N7.87 trillion to N10.49 trillion in the first quarter of this year, compared with the corresponding period of 2024, findings by New Telegraph has shown.
According to a report by the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), the value of PoS transactions stood at N4.10 trillion in January 2025; N3.17 trillion in February and N3.22 trillion in March.
An analysis of NIBSS data shows that while the value of transactions through PoS terminals in March and February this year was lower than January’s figure, it was significantly higher compared with the figures for the corresponding period of 2024 (N850.09 billion in January, N805.05 billion in February and N961.86 billion in January).
It was further highlighted by analysts at Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC), which usually cite e-payment transactions data obtained from the NIBSS.
It has also been reported that there has been increased adoption of e-payment in the country in recent years, driven by factors such as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) initiatives to promote its cashless policy, the impact of the 2020 Covid-19 crisis and the naira redesign programme introduced by the apex bank in late 2022.
For instance, in its report titled, “Instant Payments – 2020 Annual Statistics”, the NIBSS stated: “Covid-19 changed the e-payments 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, which crippled economic activities across the country in the first quarter of 2023, thereby forcing bank customers, who were unable to access cash at the time, to adopt e-payment channels.
Indeed, there are indications that lingering cash scarcity in the banking system was responsible for the value of PoS transactions rising by 69 per cent to N18 trillion in 2024, from N10.74 trillion in 2023.
This also led to more people becoming banking agents or PoS merchants to meet increased demand for cash from bank customers who were frustrated by their inability to withdraw cash from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) or banking halls.
As a result, NIBSS data shows that PoS terminals deployed across the country by financial institutions rose by 127.07 per cent to hit a record 5.56 million as at the end of December 2024, compared with 2.45 million in the corresponding period of the previous year. This means that a total of 3.11 million PoS terminals were deployed.
