Nigerian mobile money service provider, Paga, says it has surpassed over 1.2 million transactions worth over N13.2 billion in value from 2011.

This according to a statement made on the company’s Facebook page today.

“In an environment where the mobile payments industry is often considered to be underperforming, we are delighted by our steadily rising transaction levels over the past year,” said the compan..

“It is reflection of the economies move towards accepting alternative payment channels; and it’s a major incentive for the Paga team and our agent network to keep delivering the exceptional products and services our users deserve,” added Paga.

Mobilemoneyafrica.com says that out of a population of 167 million people in Nigeria only an estimated 26 million Nigerians have bank accounts, propping up the potential growth for mobile money offerings in the country.

Owing to the nature of this untapped market, total mobile money transactions in Nigeria are forecast to grow from N228 million in 2012 to N151 billion by the end of 2015, according to statistics released by the country’s government early this year.

According to Nigeria’s Leadership newspaper, the minister of communications technology, Omobola Johnson, has further said that the number of verified mobile money agents in the country is 3,000 and is expected to increase to 50,000 by 2015.

Mobile money was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in November 2011, through the issuance of licences to several companies including banks, electronic financial transaction (EFT) companies and microfinance banks.