The latest data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) has revealed that licensed mobile money operators including Palmpay, OPay, and 15 others processed transactions valued at N71.5 trillion between January and December 2024.
This represents a 53.4% increase in transactions across mobile money platforms when compared with the N46.6 trillion recorded in the full year 2023.
The volume of transactions across the fintech platforms also increased by 23%, jumping from 3 billion in 2023 to 3.9 billion in 2024, according to NIBSS data.
Meanwhile, the mobile money operators in Nigeria are anticipating a bigger boom in transactions this year on the back of a projected increase in smartphone penetration in Nigeria.
The mobile money operators
Nairametrics recently reported that there are currently 17 companies licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria as Mobile Money Operators.
While the mobile money operators could also be referred to as fintechs, there are over 200 fintechs in Nigeria but only 17 are licensed as mobile money service providers.
- For clarity, mobile money involves the use of mobile phones for the initiation, authorization, and confirmation of the transfer of a value out of a current/checking, savings, or stored value account.
- Meanwhile, the growth in transactions was recorded despite a one-month setback for some of the leading mobile money operators, who were momentarily stopped from onboarding new customers by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
- The CBN had in April 2024 ordered OPay, Palmpay, Paga, and other fintechs not in the mobile money space including Moniepoint and Kuda Bank, to stop onboarding new customers over the suspicion that their platforms are being used by criminal elements to maneuver foreign exchange through crypto trading. The suspension was lifted after about a month.
What you should know
The surge in mobile money transactions is a reflection of the general upswing in e-payment in Nigeria in the year under review. According to NIBSS data, transactions across all electronic channels in the country hit an all-time high of N1.07 quadrillion in 2024.
- Industry analysts believe that the surge in e-payment transactions can be linked to the recent cash crunch experience and the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which limited the amount of cash that can be withdrawn daily.
- According to the revised cashless policy, which came into effect on January 9, 2023, cash withdrawal by an individual is limited to N500,000 a week, while corporate organizations have N5 million withdrawal limit within the same period.
