Mobile Transactions Rise by Over 3000%; Hit N4.86 Trillion in 4 Months

By Ahmed Ayanfe

Nigerians’ use of mobile channels for payment transactions has risen by 3,454.46 per cent from N136.85bn within the first four months of 2019 to N4.86tn in the corresponding period of 2022, according to data from the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System.

This growth follows a 13.98 percent increase in the number of telecommunication subscribers in the nation from 176.62 million in April 2019 to 201.31 million in the corresponding month of 2022.

Data from the mobile inter-scheme portal of the NIBSS showed a significant increase in the value of mobile transactions started during the pandemic, which is consistent with its, ‘Instant Payments – 2020 Annual Statistics’ report.

The report revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had changed the e-payments landscape and accelerated the adoption of instant payments.

It added that mobile devices drove payment in 2020, accounting for 43 per cent of total transactions in 2020, with 35 percent of transactions carried out via USSD, and 78 per cent of total transfer transactions.

According to the NIBSS, mobile transactions increased from N136.85bn in 2019 to N623.47bn in 2020, N1.78tn in 2021, and N4.86tn in 2022.

Within the time under review, the mobile inter-scheme transaction portal showed that usage increased by 3,406.95 per cent from 4.36 million times to 152.99 million times.