A new report by Indexmundi has revealed that the Point of Sale (PoS) device is still unpopular in Nigeria as the channel only accounts for 21% of all transactions.

This is a far cry from South Africa and Ghana where the PoS channel accounts for 91% and 80% of all transactions respectively. Tunisia ranks third with 79%. Nigeria ranked seventh in Africa and it is behind Egypt (fourth), Morocco (fifth) and Kenya.

Figures released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) puts Nigeria's PoS density per 100,000 people at 13, which is not close to India's 67; Uganda's 453; and Namibia's 338.

CBN had previously announced that Nigeria plans to meet Brazil's PoS deployment rate of 2,247 per 100,000 people by 2020.

But at the recently held CashlessAfrica Expo in Lagos, Kevin Chung of Avante International Technology noted that Nigeria still needs to do more to boost its cashless economy drive – specifically he recommended that data centres within the finance sector be upgraded from Tier 1-2 to Tier 3-4.

Tunde Ogungbade, MD of Global Accelerex Limited decried the high cost of cash management in Nigeria. Quoting figures released by the CBN, he said by 2020, Nigeria would be spending a quarter of a trillion naira on cash management.

He said: "There is a high percentage of unbanked in the country and uneven access to money, these hobbles cashless initiative in the country. A cashless future must serve society at large, and that it cannot be about corporate interest, governmental control or surveillance and monitoring. It must be about providing endless consumer choice for payment".

Other experts noted that in order to boost PoS adoption in Nigeria, stakeholders need to tackle several challenges including a high rate of illiteracy, inadequate sensitisation, education and channels.

Onajite Regha, Executive Secretary and CEO of E-Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN), believes that while there is still a lot to do, Nigeria has had a commendation-worthy and impressive journey towards growing a cashless economy.

She said: "In the same vein, our regulators have not left any stone unturned to ensure that our payment systems meet their desire to make it nationally utilised and internationally recognised. As an Association E-PPAN has remained the bridge between the providers, the regulators and the users. It has not been an easy ride, but we can proudly say we have come a long way since 2012. So while there is still a lot of room for improvement, in my opinion, we are deserving of a pat on the back in the implantation of the cashless society so far."