Several more electronic payment initiatives are being lined up for Nigeria and these are expected to elevate the increase recorded in the amount transacted electronically over the most recent quarter.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), a total volume of 457,226,406 transactions valued at N32.48 trillion was recorded in Q1 2018 as data on Electronic Payment Channels in the Nigeria banking sector.

Though the transaction volume is slightly lower compared to the previous data in Q4 2017 in which Nigerian banks recorded 461,980,541 transactions, Q1 2018's monetary value outweighs the N29.44 trillion exchanged in Q4 2017.

While the latest data may point to more money being moved around electronically, transactions from each of the two last quarters more than doubled the total volume recorded in Q3 2017 - 213,693,964 transactions (N19.33 trillion in value).

The total volume comprises of transaction figures including deposits, withdrawals, loans and other form of electronic transfer activities.

The NBS states that Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transactions dominated the volume of transactions recorded - 212,370,853 volume of ATM transactions valued at N1,568 billion was recorded in Q1 2018.

Going by these figures, the outlook shows that transactional and monetary values are likely to increase drastically in the next few years as the market welcomes new initiatives - especially in public service delivery.

These figures could increase as a result of new initiatives targeted at the Nigerian market, including 70 million new electronic ID or e-ID cards by the National Identity Management Commission in partnership with MasterCard.

Between now and 2025, approximately 72 million new mobile subscribers are expected to be added in West Africa, taking subscriber penetration to 54%.

GSMA Intelligence believes Nigeria will account for the largest share of new subscribers (51%), while Niger will record the fastest growth (6%) over this period.

The projected surge in mobile phone users will increase local electronic transactions based on the existing system as well as newly-created competitive FinTech platforms that could help drive the central bank's 80% financial inclusion target by 2020.

The Global Findex Database 2017 shows that only 40% of Nigerian adults have an account with a financial institution or a mobile money provider. The index agrees that a larger share of these people have at some point made-and/or received digital payment within the year, debit card ownership is still less than 40% of the population.