Due to the Naira shortage brought on by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s redesigned naira and cash withdrawal policy, instant electronic payment reached N38.77 trillion in January 2023, up 45.52 percent from N26.65 trillion in January 2022.
New information from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System supports this. The CBN urged Nigerians to use electronic forms of transactions in 2022 and set a policy for the redesign of the naira as well as withdrawal restrictions.
The CBN said, “The maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawals across all channels by individuals and corporate organisations shall be N500,000 and N5m respectively.”
It added, “Customers should be encouraged to use alternative channels (Internet banking, mobile banking apps, USSD, cards/POS, eNaira, etc.) to conduct their banking transactions.”
The policy will now go into effect on February 10 instead of the original deadline of January 31. The Federal Government is currently prohibited from enforcing its deadline as a result of a Supreme Court decision.
Nigerians have experienced long ATM lines, buying of the naira, unsuccessful transactions, and issues with banks’ mobile applications since the policy’s announcement.
The N38.77 trillion registered for the Nigeria Instant Payment System in January 2023 is a record-high amount for the month of January on the NIBSS platform. While immediate payments climbed year over year by 45.52 percent, they decreased month over month by 7.75 percent, from N42.03 trillion in December 2022 to N38.77 trillion in January 2023.
According to NIBSS data, because to the holiday season, December typically has the greatest transaction volumes and figures.
By 2025, the CBN predicts that case payments will be less common in the nation. This was indicated in the document titled Payments Vision 2025.
It said that by 2025, the nation would have an effective electronic payment system infrastructure to support all economic sectors.
It said, “The use of cash will naturally slow with the ‘mobile first generation’, which will be economically active by 2025, hence one of the focuses of the PSV 2025 is enhancing the cashless policy of the CBN”, the document stated.
“As we implement the PSV 2025 agenda, the CBN will continue to ensure that the Nigerian payments system is widely utilised domestically, supports the government’s financial inclusion objectives, and meets international standards while contributing to overall national economic growth and development of Nigeria.”
