Economy
Mobile Payment Transaction Market to Reach $768b Before 2017
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
It has been projected that before the end of 2016, the mobile payment transaction volume will grow by a massive 42 percent to reach 26,923.7 million, up from 18,969.8 million in 2015.
In terms of value, this will represent nearly $768.78 billion, up from $549.91 billion in 2015.
Mobile payments will continue to be strong in APEJ and Africa, as unlike US and Europe, a majority of consumers don’t own a credit card, and are making a direct shift from cash to mobile payments.
Growth will be particularly robust in China, where the entry of Apple and Samsung earlier this year has led to a renewed interest, sprucing up the already fiercely-competitive landscape.
While strong adoption in China will continue to boost the mobile payment market in Asia Pacific, making it the leading market globally in terms of volume, Africa will maintain its numero uno position in terms of value.
The tremendous success of M-Pesa in Kenya has influenced consumers and businesses in other African countries to adopt mobile money, leading to a rapid increase in the Africa mobile payment market. Africa currently accounts for nearly 32 percent revenue share of the global mobile money market, with a subscriber base of over 100 million.
Outside of Asia Pacific and Africa, the U.S. and Western Europe remain the other lucrative regions for mobile payment transaction market globally.
While mobile payment transactions will continue to grow, existing challenges, such as slow adoption of smartphone compatible POS systems by retailers will continue to impede growth.
“While a 42 percent volume growth looks staggering, there’s more to what meets the eye. Apart from a few countries, consumers haven’t fully embraced mobile payments, in spite of its relatively better security features.
“However, given the enormous advantages mobile money offers over traditional payment options, it won’t be long before mobile payments become as ubiquitous as credit cards,” FMI said in its report.
By technology, SMS and WAP/WEB will continue to account for most of the transactions conducted worldwide.
Mobile payments conducted through SMS will witness a year-on-year growth rate of over 28 percent and total $385 billion in revenues. Payments made through NFC, widely touted as the technology of the future, will witness the highest y-o-y growth rate, increasing at over 59 percent in 2016.
Money transfer and merchandise purchases account for over 90 percent revenue share of the global mobile payment transaction market on the basis of end-use ‘purpose’. Mobile payments made for merchandise purchases will be worth $323.73 billion in 2016, up from $228.32 billion in 2015.
Money transfer, the largest end-use purpose in the mobile payment transaction market, will grow by over 38 percent to surpass $381 billion in revenues.
Leading players operating in the global mobile payment transaction market are PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Alipay.
Long-term Forecast: FMI forecasts the global mobile payment transaction market to increase at a CAGR of 39.1 percent through 2020 and reach $2.89 trillion in revenues.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
