NIGERIA: Banks electronic transfers hit N356.47tr

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday said in the Fourth Quarter (Q4) 2020, total transactions recorded through Electronic Payment Channels reached N356.47 trillion.

According to its data titled: “Selected Banking Sector Data – Q4 2020”, the value was recorded from a total volume of 3,464,811,083 transactions in the period under review.

The data said: “A total volume of 3,464,811,083 transactions valued at N356.47trillion was recorded in Q4 2020 as data on Electronic Payment Channels in the Nigeria Banking Sector revealed”.

The report said online transfers dominated the volume of transactions recorded.

It added that 2,227,449,949 volume of online transfer transactions valued at N120.27 trillion were recorded in Q4 2020.

The NBS said in the period under review, banks’ credit to the private sector was N20.37 trillion.

It added that “Oil and Gas and Manufacturing sectors got credit allocation of N3.93 trillion and N3.19 trillion to record the highest credit allocation as at the period under review”.

It explained that as of Q4 2020, the total number of Banks’ staff decreased by -0.90.per cent QoQ from 95,888 in Q3 2020 to 95,026.

This is an indication that 862 staff lost their jobs in the period under review.

The report said: “In terms of credit to the private sector, the total value of credit allocated by the bank stood at N20.37trillion as of Q4 2020”.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has published an updated list of International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) approved for Diaspora Remittances in the country as at April 1, totalling 57.

The reports that the updated list was published by the apex bank via its official website yesterday.

Among the IMTOs listed are: Aftab Currency Exchange Ltd, Nigerian Postal Service, Ria Financial, PayPal Inc,  Western Union, Swift Payment Ltd and Worldremit Ltd.

Also on the list are Money Gram, Interswitch Ltd, Paycom Nigeria Ltd, Pagatech Ltd and Flutterwave Technology Solutions Ltd, among others.

SOURCE: THE NATION