By our Reporter
The E-channels had witnessed a significant growth with the value of transactions via digital payment platforms – Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Instant Payment System and Point of Sales terminals – rose to N60.34tn in in the first quarter of 2021.
From statistics,the two platforms recorded a 87.1 per cent growth in value of payments when compared to an aggregate of N32.25tn in the corresponding period of 2020.
Unlike the fourth quarter of 2020 with transactions that was valued at N53.61tn, there was 12.55 per cent increase.
A breakdown of data obtained from Nigeria Interbank Settlement System showed that NIP grossed N58.85tn in Q1 2021, while PoS deals were worth N1.49tn during the same period.
The instant payments were carried out by bank customers via bank branches, Internet banking, mobile apps, Automated Teller Machines and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data.
Analysis of the NIBSS data showed that the volume of transactions conducted using NIP and PoS was 967.51 million, a 91 per cent increase from 506.53 million recorded in Q1 2020.
This is also a 6.47 per cent increase from 908.70 million transactions conducted in the last quarter of 2020.
The aggregation volume of online payment deals stood at 734.06 million, while the volume of the PoS deals was 223.45 million in Q1 2021.
March had the highest PoS and instant payments in value and volume in the first quarter of 2021.
According to the NIBSS, in recent years, mobile phones and tablets have been the major channels used for NIP transactions.
Mobile phones and tablets were responsible for 78 per cent of total transfer transactions in 2020.