14 Aug African Payments: Online Payment Methods for eCommerce in Nigeria

Nigeria has a population of almost 200m people and is a relatively well developed African economy.  The payment systems work well and there is a variety of card, pay by bank (bank transfer with USSD) and mobile money payment methods, all of which can be used for online payment for eCommerce companies.

Nigeria’s payment system NIBSS is well developed and works well.  Nigerians need to have a BVN, which is a Bank Verification Number, in order to open a bank account and anyone with a bank account and phone can make a bank transfer payment using USSD.

Almost half the Nigerian population are banked and cards and “bank transfer” are more popular than mobile money.   Debit cards are more common than credit cards for online payment. Cash is still king but can be troublesome to manage collections.  

Mobile Money is curiously enough in its infancy as Nigeria, similar to South Africa has a well developed banking system which means there hasn’t been the same kind of demand for Mobile Money.  The Nigerian government is driving mobile money as a way to increase financial inclusion which is low in rural areas underserved by banks.

Online sales with card and bank transfer cover a significant number of people.  If we say that the population is 200m and it is estimated that around 30% have internet access and most of those can use bank transfer or card, then that’s almost 60m consumers that can shop and buy online using an online payment method of choice for purchasing their eCommerce goods and services

If you are a multinational eCommerce company looking to expand to Africa for your online payments then contact African Payment Solutions now