The value of transactions performed using Point of Sale (PoS) machines increased in 2019 according to a report released by the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS). About N2.83 trillion worth of transactions were done using a PoS in the first 11 months of 2019. A significant 21.93% increase from the N2.32 trillion recorded in 2018.
Similarly, the volume of PoS transactions increased to 392 million in the first 11 months; 37.28% higher than the about 285 million recorded in 2018.
An evaluation of the report showed that November had the highest volume and value of PoS transactions with payments pegged at a value of N303.83billion and volume recorded as 41.833 million.
However, Q1 saw a steep drop in both the value and volume of PoS transactions as the month of February showed a volume crash from 28.2 million in January to 25.8 million and also value crash from N222 billion to N193.426 billion.
The crash was attributed to the NIBSS system crash on December 24, 2018, which caused a high rate of failed transactions on a daily basis between February and March.
In March, the NIBSS announced that it had upgraded its systems to handle the failure rates. The upgrade appears to have solved the problem as the data shows a steady increase in the volume of transactions since March.
The slight dip in volume in September could be due to the additional N50 charge imposed on transactions carried out through PoS Terminal.
However, the Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Babatunde Itukera, stated in a signed directive that the circular released on September 17, 2019 by the CBN was not meant to pass the N50 PoS fees to consumers.
“The FCCPC has robustly engaged the CBN on this issue, pursuant to 5.17 (b), (f), (g), (i) of the FCCPC Act, including meetings of the highest levels of leadership of both regulators. The FCCPC’s strongly held position was that an assessment imposed on merchants necessarily is a component of doing business, and may only be directly passed on to consumers in limited circumstances.”
Extract from directive issued by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC)
Also, the NIBSS data reported a total of 1.019 billion instant payment deals in the first 11 months of 2019. A whopping 58% increase compared to the 645.52 million transactions recorded in the corresponding period in 2018.
The value of NIP transactions during the period was pegged at N94.48 trillion, 31% more than the N72.03 trillion recorded during the same period in 2018.
Similar to PoS transactions, NIP transactions peaked in November registering a volume of 109.56 million and a value of N9.622 trillion.
That said, the complete data for 2019 isn’t in yet.
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