Data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) shows that bank customers in Nigeria transferred a total of N19.4 trillion over mobile in 2022.
This shows a 142% increase year on year compared to N8 trillion worth of transactions in 2021.
The data from the NIBSS also shows that the volume of mobile inter-scheme transactions rose by 151% year on year from 284.5 million recorded in 2021 to 609 million in 2022.
E-bills payment on the rise: Meanwhile, the NIBSS data revealed that the value of bills paid through electronic channels last year rose to N2.8 trillion. Compared with N2.3 trillion recorded in 2021, this represents a 53% increase in the value of bills paid online.
- E-Bills Pay is an account-based, online real-time product that facilitates the payment of bills from an account. It ensures instant credit of payments and receipt of collections on behalf of billers/merchants recruited on the platform.
- Currently, the platform is used for payments such as utility bills, cable TV subscriptions, hotel and airline bookings, school fees, and airtime top-ups. According to NIBSS data, more Nigerians are now embracing payment of bills electronically as opposed to paying with cash.
Impact of mobile connections: The surge in the use of mobile for financial transactions is buoyed by the rising mobile connections across the country.
According to the latest data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), active subscriptions for mobile services across the networks of MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile grew by 19.2 between January and October this year. The mobile subscriptions jumped from 195 million in December 2021 to 218.6 million in November 2022.
The growing embrace of the mobile channel for transactions is, however, making the platform more attractive to fraudsters. According to a recent NIBSS fraud report, fraudsters are also focusing more attention on the platform. According to the report, fraud attempts on mobile increased by 330% between January and September 2020.
