LEADERSHIP
Although, the volume of e-payment transactions increased significantly in February 2023, rising by 121 per cent year-on-year, electronic payment glitches have continued unabated, thereby pulling down the value of transactions consummated in the second month of the year. Latest data by the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) show that, while the volume of NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) rose by 45.5 per cent last month, the value of transactions consummated via the channel declined by 5.12 per cent.
LEADERSHIP recalls that during the period of scarcity of new naira notes, a lot of Nigerians turned to internet banking to carry out their banking transactions, thereby putting more pressure on the internet banking platforms of banks, and creating traffic that over-stretched the inadequate online banking infrastructure of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).
The reason for the poor internet banking services experienced during this period of cash crunch is simply because Nigerian banks do not have solid technology or infrastructure to manage the rush, the co-founder and project manager of VPD Money, a digital fintech, Mohammed Adeleke, told LEADERSHIP.
Adeleke disclosed that most of the banks are running on old technology, hence the reason they are not able to manage the rush.
“Imagine all of people trying to pass through a tiny door, it is either they break the door or they slowly pass through it. That was what happened. The infrastructure in most banks could not manage the rush. That was why transaction was not going. You want to send money, but the internet banking platform is not opening. Even if you successfully send money, it takes days for it to reflect in the receivers’ account or bounce bank to your account. The simple explanation for this is that the banks are still operating on poor technology,” the co-founder explained.
