Cash remains a popular payment method in Nigeria. The rural population uses cash extensively because they lack the expertise to utilize alternative payment methods.
However, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is taking several steps to raise knowledge of payment choices in the local population. Basic and low-cost banking accounts would improve payment infrastructure and transform Nigerian customers’ behavior.
Although flawed, the Nigerian economy continues to establish milestones and meet growth requirements. Smartphone adoption, e-commerce, and government measures assist the economy in embracing new technologies.
Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) found that 36% of Nigerian citizens are financially excluded, creating a potential opportunity for entrepreneurs and fintech companies.
In January 2023, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) reported a 55% growth in electronic transactions and 541 million customers. Let’s talk about payment methods in Nigeria.
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Top 3 Nigerian Payment Methods
1. Credit/debit card
Mastercard and Visa dominate the Nigerian market and are regulated by the CBN. In 2011, Verve, an indigenous card, was born quickly. Verve helps banks process payments swiftly and cheaply.
The payment offers over 30 million payment tokens to users in Nigeria to boost its popularity. Another homegrown brand challenges Mastercard, Visa, and Verve. The Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System created AfriGo.
Nigeria’s card market is $18.2 billion.
2. Bank Transfer
Soon, Nigeria’s financial industry will boom. The government is improving fintech infrastructure to support development.
Since digital banking is the current trend, efforts are made to develop and make it accessible to users.
3. E-Wallets
E-wallets are popular in Nigeria for online and in-store purchases. In 2021, 7% of Nigerian e-commerce sales used digital and mobile payments.
Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay are popular mobile e-wallets. Other famous names include Naira.com, Chipper Cash, and Paga.
Mobile transactions rose from 32 million in January 2022 to 108 million in January 2023. This is a 237% volume increase.
Local customers benefit from the growing usage of mobile phones as channels and payment mechanisms. Mobile customers would rise to 100 million between 2023 and 2025.
How can Akurateco help with Nigerian payments?
The experts at Akurateco have been working in the field of online payments for over 15 years, and their advanced payment routing system solves every problem that merchants and payment processors have. You can learn more about it at https://akurateco.com/blog/payment-routing-the-ultimate-guide. A cutting-edge white-label payment gateway is the end product.
You can anticipate assistance for your consumers regardless of region, currency, or payment method. Akurateco suits major worldwide and small local businesses with little digital know-how. Your company can succeed with Akurateco. It provides a payment mechanism for individualized transactions.
With Akurateco, you can configure intelligent payment routing based on any user-defined parameter. This parameter may be tested using the system’s gathered data and then utilized to direct the transaction to the acquirer or MID you choose.
With the aforementioned criteria, users may also mix and match them to route transactions. For instance, to maximize profit, you may configure a certain MID to route MasterCard transactions at a reduced interchange rate.
