Total volume of payment transactions across Nigerian payment channels fell by 26 per cent in April, compared to the preceding month.
According to provisional data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, total volume of transactions was 251.9m in March, but dropped to 186.6m in April, the month of the lockdown.
Transaction values also dropped from N12.3tn in March 2020 to N7.6tn in April – a N4.6tn or 37.7 per cent drop in transaction value
The data available were cheque, Automated Teller Machine, Point Of Sale, E-bills and interbank transfer transactions. The CBN data for April excluded other transaction channels such as web, mobile and National Electronic Funds Transfer.
The last time Nigeria recorded payment transactions of less than 190m was in February 2018 at 159.9m
However, the impact of the lockdown has been observed in several facets of the economy and is projected to lead the country into another recession in four years.
The lockdown was imposed as a counter measure against the rising cases of the Coronavirus Disease in the country. Since the lockdown, over 33,000 cases of COVID-19 has been recorded, one of the lowest per capita in the world.
In terms of value, the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Instant Payments platform remains the dominant form of transferring money by value but suffered a N3.9tn drop in transaction values.
This, perhaps, reflects the lockdown of economic activities, as most companies who rely on this platform to make transfers operated minimally. Cheque channels even performed worse with only N10.3bn in transaction value.
POS transactions, which reflects spending pattern of Nigerians via merchant outlets such as supermarkets, retail markets and shops declined by 26.2 per cent from N368.9bn in March 2020 to N272bn in April.
