The number of Point of Sales (PoS) machines deployed across Nigeria reached 3.04 million in July 2024, according to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS). This marked a 32% increase from the 2.3 million terminals deployed in July 2023, with 744,533 new terminals deployed in the past year.
Despite this growth, the number of deployed PoS machines is still below the total registered terminals, which stand at 4.06 million. This indicates that over 1 million registered PoS terminals are either inactive or yet to be deployed.
PoS transactions in Nigeria are also on the rise, with the value of transactions in July 2024 reaching N1.01 trillion. This reflects a significant shift towards cashless payments, up from N930.76 billion in June 2024 and N923.37 billion in July 2023.
The peak of PoS transactions occurred in March 2023, when N1.15 trillion was recorded during a period of cash scarcity, which pushed many Nigerians to use electronic transactions. The continuous growth of PoS usage is driven by increased merchant adoption and the shortage of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
In response to the rise in electronic transactions, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued new directives for Payment Service Providers to follow enhanced routing guidelines for PoS transactions. This move is part of CBN’s strategy to strengthen the monitoring of electronic payments.
Meanwhile, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has begun cracking down on PoS operators who have failed to register their businesses. The CAC warns that unregistered operators may be involved in unethical activities and could face shutdowns.