...as transfers hit N853.7bn in 5 months
Financial transactions through mobile phones took a great leap in the first five months of this year as it rose by 365 per cent. The latest statistics released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) revealed that Nigerians transferred a total of N853.7 billion between January and May this year through their mobiles.
In the same period of 2019, the value of mobile transfer N183.7 billion. The five-month mobile transfer value for this year also surpassed the value for the entire 12 months of 2019, which stood at N828 billion.
According to the NIBSS data, the volume of the mobile inter-scheme transactions also rose by 561 per cent from 6.2 million recorded in the first five months of 2019 to 41 million in the same period of 2020. While the surge in the use of mobile transfer for payment within the last five months could also be attributed to coronavirus pandemic, which forced many to limit face-to-face transactions even before the declaration of lockdown in some states, industry analysts said the growth indicated that efforts to deepen financial inclusion by banks, fintech, and telecommunications companies are yielding positive results.
Analysis of the figures for the five months showed that the sum of N133.2 billion was transferred via mobile in January this year. In February, transactions worth N148.3 billion were carried out over the mobile, while in March a total ofN169.8 billion was recorded as mobile transfers. In April and May, the value of the mobile transfer by banks’ customers stood at N172 billion and 230.2 billion respectively.
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