Mobile Money: Transfers Grew by 344.1% in 10 Months

• Mobile Money: Transfers Grew by 344.1% in 10 Months

The volume of money transferred through mobile devices rose by 344.1 percent in 10 months, data from the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) has shown.

The volume of transactions grew by 344.1 percent from 5.9 million recorded in the same period of 2018 to 26.2 million in the first 10 months of 2019. Highlighting growing interest in technology in Africa’s largest economy.

This, in value, translated to N565.4 billion as of October 2019, representing a 137.3 percent increase when compared to N238.2 billion recorded in the same period of 2018.

According to Ayodele Akinwunmi, corporate banking department, FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, this shows more Nigerians are embracing technology.

“We now have technology making businesses better and easier. It is also in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) plan to drive financial inclusion in the country. The use of mobile phones by people in the rural areas and urban cities to make transactions, improvement in internet services across the country and data availability has actually increased investments in those areas to ensure that we have a reliable telecommunication system to support the banks’ payment systems.

“And again CBN has also licensed other operators in the industry to aid this. So convenience for the consumers and the efficiency in driving down the cost price of the operators make this possible,” Akinwunmi said.

On the other hand, the volume of cheque transactions declined by 13.2 percent from 7.6 million to 6.6 million during the same period, according to NIBSS.

A macro and fixed income analyst at Lagos-based Chapel Hill Denham, Omotola Abimbola, said, “This is positive for the economy in terms of efficiency of transactions and velocity of money which is supportive of growth.”