Fintech: Central Bank to Adjust Payment Service Vision 2020

• Fintech: Central Bank to Adjust Payment Service Vision 2020

The continuous rise in electronic payment service and improved technology in the financial sector has compelled the Central Bank of Nigeria to push for the review of Payment Service Vision 2020.

Mrs Aishah Ahmad, the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, CBN, disclosed this during the Electronic Payments Incentive Scheme Efficiency awards in Lagos.

She said, “The CBN is undertaking a review of the PSV 2020 (created to provide a sound regulatory framework that supports innovation, protects consumers and promotes financial stability). The proposed refreshed strategy is tagged PSV 2030.”

According to her, payment structure has changed enormously and continued to develop. New technologies in the financial sector are supporting and aiding faster payments and settlements.

While growing adoption of mobile phones as the primary payment channel as seen recently has made it easier and cheaper to conduct electronic transactions.

These new developments, according to the deputy, are validated by the surge in the volume of transactions performed on electronic payment platforms.

The data released by the Nigerian Interbank Settlement Scheme revealed that the total volume of cheques cleared in January dropped by 20 percent to 712,191. While the volume of Point of Sales, unstructured supplementary service data, instant transfer and electronic bills payment recorded double-digit growth during the period.

Electronic payment of utility bills, airtime top-up, cable TV, hotels and airlines, among others, rose by 55 per cent to 134,656 in January 2019, up from 87,076 recorded in the same month of 2017.

The total value of electronic transactions performed between January 2018 and September of the same year was valued at N56.85 trillion, up from the N40.45 trillion filed in 2017.

This sudden surged in electronic payments adoption and the growing financial/e-commerce technology in Nigeria has necessitated a review of Payment Service Vision 2020.