The value of utility payments made via electronic transactions declined by 44.86 per cent from ₦164.89 billion reported in January 2023 to ₦90.93 billion in February 2023 amid the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s cashless drive.
According to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, NIBBS, transactions using e-bills have been on a steady increase since February 2020 when the figures stood at ₦78.38 billion.
Further analysis also showed that the value of e-bills transactions Year-on-Year, YoY, rose to ₦161.87 billion in February 2021 and ₦218.80 billion in February 2022.
The recent drop recorded in February 2023 signifies a two-year low for E-bill payments.
The CBN’s decision to introduce the naira redesign policy and new withdrawal limits had brought in hopes of strengthening the apex bank’s cashless drive as it was meant to halt the excess circulation of cash.
The follow-up statement by the apex bank which announced the withdrawal limit stated that “Customers should be encouraged to use alternative channels (Internet banking, mobile banking apps, USSD, cards/POS, eNaira, etc.) to conduct their banking transactions.”
The policy, however, failed to make the needed impact as cashless transactions slowed down instead of witnessing the expected increase.
This was confirmed by the National President, the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, Victor Olojo, as he noted that the CBN policy caused a decline in the country’s economic growth as the cash crunch caused many operators in the online money industry, mostly Point of Sales, PoS Operators to shut down their businesses.
“The policies depressed the economy and affected business activities. Many businesses were not able to run optimally. Many things were affected, and the rippling effect was well felt too”.
“Also, PoS agents which are crucial to e-Bills did not open their stalls too, which impacted e-bills. Many of the agents who could have helped, did not open and were out of business, which led to this reduction.” Olojo added.
