The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has revealed that payment of utility bills through electronic means has risen to N2.63tn in 2022.
According to NIBSS Data sighted by Investors King, N2.63tn was recorded on e-bills payment from January 2022 to November 2022 as against N2.05tn of 2021 which amounts to 28.14 per cent increase.
Investors King reports that the electronic bills volume dropped by 31.99 per cent from 841,796 to 1,111,087 in the first 11 months of 2022.
“E-BillsPay is an electronic bill payment platform that facilitates the payment of bills, fees, levies, premiums, and subscriptions, etc. by the banking public through electronic payment channels provided and managed by banks.
“The touch points for these payments include bank branches, Internet banking, mobile banking, USSD, and agent networks,” NIBSS explained.
In an interview, a telecom expert who pleaded anonymity posited that the increase in electronic payment will persist considering the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new policy on cashless transactions.
The CBN’s Naira Redesign Policy including its revised cash withdrawal limits encourages use of alternative channels like internet banking, mobile banking apps, USSD, cards/POS, eNaira and so on for payments and banking transactions.
According to the expert, people have opted for the e-payment method rather than cash payment due to its speed and avoidance of long queues at paying centers.
He stated that mobile adoption in various market spaces, convenience and speed are driving forces of the growth of electronic payments in the country.
“Convenience and speed are the two key drivers for it. Now that we are talking about financial inclusion with PSBs and other mobile money in areas without access to banks, people can use phones to carry out financial transactions.”
“Mobile is driving this adoption fast. As I have said, mobile enables on-the-go payment. It is not location-based. Mobile is the way to go; mobile is what is driving adoption,” he stated.