• Login
  • Register
Nairametrics
  • Home
  • Exclusives
    • Financial Analysis
    • Corporate Stories
    • Interviews
    • Investigations
    • Metrics
    • Economy
    • Nairalytics
  • Markets
    • Currencies
    • Cryptos
    • Commodities
    • Equities
      • Company Results
      • Dividends
      • Stock Market
    • Fixed Income
    • Market Views
    • Securities
  • Sectors
    • Agriculture
    • Aviation
    • Company News
    • Consumer Goods
    • Corporate Updates
    • Corporate deals
    • Corporate Press Releases
    • Energy
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Health
    • Hospitality & Travel
    • Manufacturing
    • Real Estate and Construction
    • Renewables & Sustainability
    • Tech News
  • Business News
    • Budget
    • Public Debt
    • Funds Management
    • Tax
  • Financial Literacy
    • Career tips
    • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Billionaire Watch
    • Profiles
  • Opinions
    • Blurb
    • Op-Eds
    • Research Analysis
  • Recapitalization
    • Access Holdings Offer
    • Fidelity Bank Offer
    • GTCO Offer
    • Zenith Bank Offer
  • Home
  • Exclusives
    • Financial Analysis
    • Corporate Stories
    • Interviews
    • Investigations
    • Metrics
    • Economy
    • Nairalytics
  • Markets
    • Currencies
    • Cryptos
    • Commodities
    • Equities
      • Company Results
      • Dividends
      • Stock Market
    • Fixed Income
    • Market Views
    • Securities
  • Sectors
    • Agriculture
    • Aviation
    • Company News
    • Consumer Goods
    • Corporate Updates
    • Corporate deals
    • Corporate Press Releases
    • Energy
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Health
    • Hospitality & Travel
    • Manufacturing
    • Real Estate and Construction
    • Renewables & Sustainability
    • Tech News
  • Business News
    • Budget
    • Public Debt
    • Funds Management
    • Tax
  • Financial Literacy
    • Career tips
    • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Billionaire Watch
    • Profiles
  • Opinions
    • Blurb
    • Op-Eds
    • Research Analysis
  • Recapitalization
    • Access Holdings Offer
    • Fidelity Bank Offer
    • GTCO Offer
    • Zenith Bank Offer
Nairametrics
No Result
View All Result
Home Companies

Building a robust foundation: Assessing Nigeria’s payment infrastructure readiness for a digital future

NM Partners by NM Partners
July 18, 2024
in Companies, Corporate Updates
Building a robust foundation: Assessing Nigeria’s payment infrastructure readiness for a digital future
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin

“Card or transfer?” is a question most Nigerians are now familiar with when making payments, however, that question would have been odd five years ago, when cash was the dominant means of payment.

To be fair, cash is still dominant, but the “cash is king” narrative is gradually fading as digital payments are growing fast.

In just one year,  from 2022 to 2023 electronic payments went from ₦387 trillion to ₦600 trillion, a 55% increase in 12 months. There are already indications that the figures for 2024 could even be greater as digital transactions in Q1 are already at ₦234 trillion, 89% greater than the ₦123.9 trillion from Q1 2023.

RelatedStories

Ugodre Obi-Chukwu named EY Entrepreneur (emerging category) of the year 2023

Banking sector sell-offs present buying opportunity — Nairametrics CEO, Ugodre Obi-Chukwu 

June 19, 2025
Wema Bank, Custodian Investment exits NGX 30 index

Agusto & Co upgrades Wema Bank rating to A- amid stronger financial performance 

June 19, 2025

This massive growth in digital payments indicates that Nigeria needs a robust, safe, scalable, and interoperable payment infrastructure.

The state of digital payments infrastructure in Nigeria

Given that Nigeria’s digital payment infrastructure has enabled the growth of digital payments in the country it will not be out of place to say it has been relatively reliable.

Some of the major milestones for digital payments are

  • The installation of the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) by the Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria in 1989, known as Heritage Bank today.
  • The formation and registration of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) in 1993.
  • The emergence of fintechs like Interswitch (2002) Paga (2009) and Remita by SystemSpecs (2005).

These milestones are imperative to where digital payments are right now in Nigeria.

For example, when NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) was launched in 2011 to allow for real-time interbank transfers, developed countries like the US did not have a broadly adopted real-time payment system.

Some semblance of real-time payment came to the US with the launch of the RTP network by The Clearing House in 2017 and the subsequent development of the FedNow Service by the Federal Reserve, which is expected to be fully operational in 2023-2024.

It is also important to note the role of policies such as the Cashless Policy of 2012 by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which aimed to reduce the use of cash, and the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS).

The CBN also mandated mobile money operators and Payment Service Banks (PSBs) to operate in rural areas to increase financial inclusion. This was particularly important for card payments in Nigeria as it saw the penetration of some neobanks such as OPay in rural areas.

Digital payments still have their problems

While we’ve seen digital payments grow significantly, the payment infrastructure still needs improvement in four key areas.

  • Scalability and capacity to handle increasing transaction volumes.
  • Security measures and fraud prevention mechanisms
  • Regulatory compliance and industry standards.
  • Interoperability and integration of payment systems

For the most part, Nigeria’s payment infrastructure has proven to be up to the task when handling increasing payment volumes.

These volumes have not been a problem for fintechs like OPay, Moniepoint and PalmPay which push the boundaries regarding transaction speed, especially with PoS payments. This feat has granted these institutions market share when it comes to PoS payments.

Their influx into the market also coincided with a remarkable growth in card payments. In 2023 card payments was ₦10.73 trillion compared to ₦8.39 trillion recorded in 2022.

However, payment volumes are bound to increase, because while the narrative is changing, “cash is still king.” And when digital payments dethrone cash, our payment infrastructure might face scalability issues.

In April 2023 some of these issues surfaced in the form of 40% unresolved chargebacks from electronic payments. These problems also manifest in the form of fraud which hasbeen a thorn in the flesh of major financial players in Nigeria.

Fraud attacks are all too common

Flutterwave, one of Nigeria’s biggest payment companies suffered a ₦2.9 billion hack in 2023, and  ₦11 billion in 2024. Similarly, Interswitch also lost ₦30 billion to chargeback fraud in 2023.

These fraud and hack cases stem from the fourth component of a robust payment infrastructure which is; interoperability and integration.

This simply means financial institutions can’t work with each other seamlessly, it is important to remove the bottlenecks that hinder communication which will (in turn) strengthen fraud prevention mechanisms.

Zone, a payment infrastructure provider is working to aid this seamless connection between institutions with its blockchain solution that eliminates middlemen and helps banks and other financial institutions interact directly on its network.

This network has already signed up the majority of commercial banks including four of the FIve big ones and it also launched a PoS payment gateway that will eliminate chargeback fraud thanks to the fact that all the parties within a transaction are aware of the state of the transactions on both ends.

Interestingly, Zone’s innovative infrastructure is just as compliant as existing solutions, making it possible for institutions to implement the new payment technology without needing regulatory approvals.

Although Zone’s payment infrastructure is innovative, it is too early to tell if it’ll be the next powerhouse for payment in Nigeria.

But with the rate at which digital payment is growing in Nigeria, one thing is undebatable — the need for robust and scalable payment infrastructure.


Follow us for Breaking News and Market Intelligence.
Tags: cashless policyCBNDigital paymentsFinTechMobile MoneyPOS paymentPSBs
NM Partners

NM Partners

"NM Partners" encompasses a diverse range of articles and content published on behalf of various organizations, including corporate entities, government and non-governmental institutions, academic bodies, and key stakeholders in the economic sphere. This content spectrum covers press releases, formal announcements, specialized content, product promotions, and a variety of corporate communications tailored to engage our readership. Notably, a portion of these articles are sponsored content. At Nairametrics, while we provide a platform for these diverse voices, it is important to clarify that our relationship with the content under "NM Partners" does not imply endorsement or affiliation. The responsibility for the content accuracy and viewpoints expressed rests solely with the respective contributors. Nairametrics maintains a firm commitment to editorial independence and integrity. Consequently, we do not assume responsibility for any of the content published under "NM Partners." For any inquiries, comments, or feedback regarding the content featured in this section, we encourage open communication and can be reached at info@nairametrics.com. Additionally, we invite our readers and contributors to familiarize themselves with our Paid Post Guidelines, which outline the standards and processes governing paid content on our platform.

Related Posts

Ugodre Obi-Chukwu named EY Entrepreneur (emerging category) of the year 2023
Financial Services

Banking sector sell-offs present buying opportunity — Nairametrics CEO, Ugodre Obi-Chukwu 

June 19, 2025
Wema Bank, Custodian Investment exits NGX 30 index
Financial Services

Agusto & Co upgrades Wema Bank rating to A- amid stronger financial performance 

June 19, 2025
CBN, forex
Bank Recapitalization

CBN says forbearance-affected banks under close supervision 

June 18, 2025
CBN, forex
Financial Services

No recapitalisation deadline extension for BDCs, CBN says 

June 11, 2025
CBN, forex
Financial Services

Private sector credit rises to N77.9 trillion in April 2025 

May 30, 2025
Easy steps to build wealth through saving money in 2024
Economy

Money supply soars to N119 trillion amid CBN’s rate pause strategy 

May 29, 2025
Next Post
NMA announces new executive leaders, Bala Audu elected president 

Nigerian Doctor-Patient ratio worsens by 1000% against WHO recommendation - NMA 

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Emple
nlng
first bank
Zenth Bank








DUNS

Recent News

  • Nigeria ranks first in global stablecoins adoption in 2025 — Report 
  • Fintech startup Hizo raises $100,000 in Friends & Family Round to boost Intra-Africa transactions 
  • Dangote Plant: Dantata and Sawoe accused of failing to settle $1.4 million debt terms 

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

Stablecoins to make up 10% of total US money supply and FX transactions -Report 

Nigeria ranks first in global stablecoins adoption in 2025 — Report 

June 20, 2025
Fintech startup Hizo raises $100,000 in Friends & Family Round to boost Intra-Africa transactions 

Fintech startup Hizo raises $100,000 in Friends & Family Round to boost Intra-Africa transactions 

June 20, 2025
  • iOS App
  • Android App
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Markets
  • Sectors
  • Economy
  • Business News
  • Financial Literacy
  • Disclaimer
  • Ads Disclaimer
  • Copyright Infringement

© 2025 Nairametrics

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Exclusives
    • Financial Analysis
    • Corporate Stories
    • Interviews
    • Investigations
    • Metrics
    • Economy
    • Nairalytics
  • Markets
    • Currencies
    • Cryptos
    • Commodities
    • Equities
      • Company Results
      • Dividends
      • Stock Market
    • Fixed Income
    • Market Views
    • Securities
  • Sectors
    • Agriculture
    • Aviation
    • Company News
    • Consumer Goods
    • Corporate Updates
    • Corporate deals
    • Corporate Press Releases
    • Energy
    • Entertainment
    • Financial Services
    • Health
    • Hospitality & Travel
    • Manufacturing
    • Real Estate and Construction
    • Renewables & Sustainability
    • Tech News
  • Business News
    • Budget
    • Public Debt
    • Funds Management
    • Tax
  • Financial Literacy
    • Career tips
    • Personal Finance
  • Lifestyle
    • Billionaire Watch
    • Profiles
  • Opinions
    • Blurb
    • Op-Eds
    • Research Analysis
  • Recapitalization
    • Access Holdings Offer
    • Fidelity Bank Offer
    • GTCO Offer
    • Zenith Bank Offer
  • Login
  • Sign Up

© 2025 Nairametrics