Data taken from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc website shows that point of sale transactions surpassed the N15 trillion milestone in just two years.
The total PoS transactions between September 2020 and 2021 were N6.54 trillion, per the transaction data. Between September 2021 and September 2022, transactions increased to N8.923 trillion.
The total amount for the two time periods under review was N15.465tn.
The survey also revealed that the volume of POS activities totaled 2.14 trillion in total, with volumes of 979.8 million between September 2020 and 2021 and 1.16 trillion between September 2021 and 2022.
In retrospect, there were 2.164 million POS registered centers in September 2022, which was more than the 1.104 million centers counted in September 2021.
Gabriel Idahosa, Deputy President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), previously told The PUNCH that a robust market and increased service supply were the main drivers of the reported value of PoS transactions.
“First, the central bank approves payment services such as Momo Money from MTN and Smart Cash from Airtel,” he had said.
He pointed out that the development of fintech businesses and the application of technology to raise awareness of PoS payment were also significant drivers.
“Then, you have a lot more fintech companies advertising payment services. Organisations are allowing payments on their platform. Now, power companies allow payment of electricity bills over PoS, and even some government services let you do that. All the schools, both primary and secondary, allow you to use PoS too. Also, the banks have been very aggressive in promoting their PoS services.”
Idahosa observed that the COVID-19 period’s lingering effects were a major factor in the culture of cashless policy’s rapid emergence as a trend.
