CBN's naira redesign policy pushes PoS transactions to N807.16 billion

Solomon Ekanem 13:41 - 10 February 2023

Redesigned naira notes (Guardian)

The recent naira scarcity caused by the current cash withdrawal policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has led to a boost in the use of the point-of-sales terminals as transaction figures for January 2023 have hit N807.16 billion.

When compared to the N573.72 billion transactions recorded in January 2022, this figure represents a 40.69 percent year-on-year increase according to new data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System.

Also, there was an increased figure in the total cashless transactions in Nigeria as the figure rose by 45.41 percent y-o-y to N39.58 trillion in January 2023.

Recall the CBN In 2022, in its bid to redesign the N1000, N500 and N200 notes announced new policies that affected the withdrawal limits of the naira notes and encouraged Nigerians to adopt electronic forms of transactions.

The maximum weekly limit for cash withdrawals across all channels by individuals and corporate organisations was reduced to N500,000 and N5m respectively while customers were encouraged to use alternative channels (Internet banking, mobile banking apps, USSD, cards/POS, eNaira, etc.) to conduct their banking transactions.

The NIBSS monitors cashless transactions through the Nigeria Instant Payment System and Point of Sales terminals. Total NIP transactions for the period rose by 45.52 percent y-o-y from N26.65 trillion as of January 2022 to N38.77 trillion as of January 2023.

There was also increased usage of the electronic transaction channels as it grew by 45.50 percent y-o-y from 438.48 million times to 638 million times in the period under review. According to the NIBSS, as of January 2022, there were 955,234 deployed PoS terminals in the country.

This was further confirmed by the National President of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, Victor Olojo, who reiterated the fact that the cashless policy has forced people to go digital.

He said, “The cashless issue forced people to move to digital, to PoS. The policy contributed to that growth. People had to seek alternative channels aside from cash so this is expected. But this is not all from PoS withdrawals, we have merchants, businesses, and supermarkets. All other sectors using PoS to transact contributed to it.”