Nigeria’s push toward a cashless economy is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, with electronic payments skyrocketing to N295.5 trillion ($193 billion) in the first quarter of 2025, constituting a 24.4% jump from the same period last year.
According to new data from the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), Nigerians carried out 2.2 billion digital transactions in Q1, while the total value of instant payments in Q1 was N285 trillion ($186 billion), and point of sale (PoS) device transactions were N10.52 trillion ($6.8 billion).
But beyond the figures, the real transformation is happening at grassroots levels, where fintech solutions are bringing millions into the formal financial system.
Through innovations such as mobile money, agency banking, and low-data financial apps, fintech startups are helping to bridge the gap between formal finance and informal commerce becoming a tool of economic inclusion.
The NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) platform, launched in 2011, remains the backbone of Nigeria’s cashless boom, processing transactions across mobile apps, PoS, and internet banking.
According to NIBSS, January 2025 saw the highest transaction value on NIP, at $65 billion, followed by a slight dip in February to $57 billion, before rebounding to $62 billion in March.
Compared to other African economies, Nigeria’s digital payment adoption is advancing at a rapid pace. While countries like Kenya and South Africa have long been praised for their mobile money ecosystems, Nigeria’s fintech landscape is proving scalable, due to its combination of regulatory support, population size, and the diversity of its digital offerings.
Kenya ranked highest country on the continent for cashless transactions, according to Statista, with 75.8% of the population engaging in digital payments, which can be attributed to the widespread use of mobile money platforms, such as M-Pesa. Meanwhile, South Africa was second in the list as 70.5% of the population had engaged in digital payments in 2024.
According to a Mastercard-commissioned report by Genesis Analytics, Africa’s digital payments economy is set to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030.
Consequently, Nigeria’s fintech boom shows no signs of slowing. The question now is whether infrastructure and regulations can keep up with this explosive growth and how deep its impact will reach into Nigeria’s informal economy helping to build a more inclusive economy.
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