Online payment service provider PayU plans to aggressively push its solutions and engage the West African country's 97 million active internet users in order to tap into a potential N200 billion online payment market.

According to a statement issued by the company, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) showed that 5.5 million transactions worth N46.7 billion were generated through online sales in Q1 2017.

"This is an increase in the quarterly average of 3.5 million transactions worth N33 billion in 2016. This 58% growth is a clear indication of the increased confidence and preference for online sales amongst Nigerians," stated PayU.

PayU Nigeria Country Manager Juliet Nwanguma claims the double-digit growth is still below the potential for online payments in the country.

In the company's statement Nwanguma says that in a country of over 180 million people, consisting of 61 million active bank customers and where e-payment transactions are worth N56 trillion in a year, the potential for online payments is huge.

PayU is targeting a broad market of small, medium and large organisations with various products including PayU Plus and PayU Enterprise.

Nigeria's mobile money services market continues to attract widespread interest. In early February three money transfer-focused firms, TerraPay, MoneyTrans and Paga partnered to launch cross-border remittances from Spain to mobile wallets in Nigeria.

According to the collaborators recipients can withdraw money from more than 11,000 Paga agents across Nigeria or make cardless withdrawals from ATMs.

"The recipient can also use the money to pay bills, buy airtime or send the money to any other phone number or bank account in Nigeria, among other services."

In January the developers of the Wari financial and commercial transactions platform announced plans to expand into the Nigerian market, having secured an operating license from the financial industry regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This license enables Wari customers in Nigeria to carry out domestic and international remittances, make payments for electricity and TV, in addition to airtime purchase.

The company said it currently has more than 45,000 points around the world and is operating in over 40 countries. It added that more than 700,000 transactions are made on the platform daily and the company is positioned to revolutionise banking services in Africa.

The GSMA's Mobile Economy – Africa 2016 Report states that four of the five mobile money-based international remittance transactions occur in Africa.