By Aduragbemi Omiyale
New data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has revealed that in January 2023, the total cashless transactions in Nigeria increased on a year-on-year basis by 45.41 per cent to N39.58 trillion.
The significant growth in the use of technology for the payment of goods and services in the country during the period under review may have been influenced by the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to limit the circulation of cash in the financial system.
After the central bank disclosed last October that it was redesigning the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, it said it would reduce the amount of cash in circulation.
It first said individuals would only be allowed to withdraw N100,000 per week, while corporate organisations would be limited to N500,000 per week.
However, after a public outcry, it raised the weekly cash withdrawal limit for individuals to N500,000 and for corporates to N5 million weekly through various channels, over-the-country (OTC), Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point of Sale (POS).
In the latest data from the NIBSS, it was stated that POS transactions last month surged by 40.69 per cent to N807.16 billion from the N573.72 billion achieved in January 2022.
These transactions were tracked by the NIBSS through the Nigeria Instant Payment System (NIP) and POS terminals, and it was observed that the usage of electronic channels for transactions jumped by 45.50 per cent in the period under consideration to 638 million times from 438.48 million times.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka