The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has proclaimed that the nation’s cashless transactions leaped to an astounding N295 trillion in the initial quarter of 2025, up from a mere N237.11 trillion during the same quarter of 2024.
This remarkable growth follows an NIBSS report that unveiled a surge in the number of active bank accounts across the country, which has escalated to a noteworthy 320 million during this period.
NIBSS revealed this information in its most recent report concerning the nation’s financial ecosystem.
Based on the statistics, the report underscored the increasing dependence on digital payments throughout the nation.
Specifics from the report illustrated that electronic payment methods were utilized a staggering 2.21 billion times in Q1, with point-of-sale (PoS) terminals accounting for 776.94 million transactions.
The NIBSS report aligns with the findings from ACI Worldwide, which forecasted that the volume of Nigeria’s real-time payment transactions is projected to reach 19.7 billion by 2028, an impressive rise from 7.9 billion recorded in 2023.
“In Nigeria, real-time payments are swiftly emerging as a robust alternative to cash, which has historically been the prevailing choice for transactions in the country,” ACI commented.
