The number of Point of Sales (PoS) machines deployed by merchants and individuals across Nigeria rose to 3.04 million in July this year.
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) disclosed this in its latest electronic payment data.
This represents a 32% increase year on year when compared with the number of deployed terminals in the same period last year, which was 2.3 million.
The July 2024 figure indicated that a total of 744, 533 new PoS terminals were deployed between August 2023 and July 2024.
However, the figure for deployed PoS is still lower than the total registered terminals. According to the NIBSS data, a total of 4.06 million PoS machines had been registered across the country as of July 2024, which shows that a total of 1.02 million terminals are either yet to be deployed or have become inactive.
PoS transactions
Meanwhile, the value of PoS transactions in the country surged to N1.01 trillion, reflecting a growing shift towards cashless transactions in Nigeria.
This is a significant increase from the N930.76 billion volume in June 2024 and N923.37 billion in July 2023. The surge follows the spread of PoS terminal deployment across the country.
- PoS transactions value in the country hit an all-time high of N1.15 trillion in March last year, when the PoS value hit an all-time high is attributable to the unusual cash scarcity during the period, which forced many Nigerians to embrace electronic transactions.
- Aside from the 2023 cash scarcity, the growth of PoS transactions in Nigeria is being driven by many factors, part of which include rapid adoption by merchants for receiving payments.
- PoS is also bridging the gap created by the shortage of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) deployed by banks, as many Nigerians now withdraw through PoS agents.
More Insights
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a move aimed at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria recently issued a new directive to Payment Service Providers (PSPs), requiring them to comply with enhanced routing guidelines for PoS transactions.
- The directive, issued on September 11, 2024, follows CBN’s initiative to diversify the Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) structure, which previously operated through a single aggregator.
- This came amid an ongoing debate on the propriety of the registration of PoS operators mandated by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
- While the September deadline issued by the Commission has lapsed, the CAC said it has commenced the process of taking drastic actions including shutting down Point of Sales (PoS) businesses that have failed to register their businesses.
- According to the Commission, PoS operators who had not registered might be engaging in “unwholesome activities.”
