Despite the adoption of a wide range of electronic payments, cash is still king in Nigeria. The results of a survey conducted in 2023 show that cash and debit cards are the most
chosen in stores, restaurants, and similar. Card payments are still struggling to take off. Credit card penetration in Nigeria is very low for such a big economy. In a
worldwide placed from highest to lowest estimated credit card penetration, Nigeria was 115th. Recent data from 2024 show that almost two percent of the population in Nigeria
. Nevertheless, the percentage of people having an account with a financial institution is considerably higher.
Online payments in Nigeria
When it comes to online payment, Nigeria offers a further interesting scenario. In 2024, some 37 percent of
payments in online retail were made with cards. Cash and bank transfers were the second most common payment methods. Cash-on-delivery is also popular. Data regarding
payments on Jumia, one of Nigeria's most popular online marketplace, indicate that most of their customers preferred to pay by cash-on-delivery. To make payments on delivery, shoppers use the pay account of the marketplace and pay via SMS or QR code. E-wallets made up about seven percent of digital payments in Nigeria. The most
common e-wallet service providers were KongaPay and PayPal.
Mobile money revolution
Mobile money represents a revolutionary reality in Nigeria as well as in many other African countries. It allows customers to receive, store, and spend money using a mobile phone. The service can be provided by banks, mobile money operators (MNOs), telecom companies, payment service providers, or similar. The service may be used for international money transfers to family, to pay utilities, smallholder farmers, provide humanitarian cash assistance, and for e-commerce. As of 2024, the
mobile money penetration rate in Nigeria stood at about nine percent.
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