NPS Records ₦1.4trn Transactions as First Bank, Fidelity Bank Lead Adoption | ClipTV Online

The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc, Nigeria’s foremost payments infrastructure provider, has commenced the rollout of the National Payment Stack (NPS), a sovereign, ISO 20022-compliant digital infrastructure designed to succeed the legacy NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) system and modernise Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.

By unifying payments, identity and data onto a single intelligent rail, the multi-currency architecture bridges transaction processing and payment intelligence while establishing robust cross-border capabilities.

Initial operational metrics highlight rapid commercial adoption, with the NPS platform already recording 26.55 million transactions valued at ₦1.4 trillion across 48 participating institutions.

FirstBank of Nigeria leads the industry in total transaction volume, while Fidelity Bank holds the lead in overall transaction value. Other key early adopters driving network scale include Guaranty Trust Bank, Sterling Bank, Access Bank and Moniepoint.

Key Operational Advances

The platform introduces several key operational and structural advances across the financial sector, including:

• ISO 20022 Data Architecture: Enables structured, metadata-rich transactions that automate corporate reconciliation, streamline merchant collections and power request-to-pay invoicing.
• Unified Payment Rails: Consolidates single transfers and high-volume corporate disbursements onto one platform, supporting direct debits, asynchronous processing and deferred settlement options.
• Embedded Security and Compliance: Integrates automated sanctions screening, account validation, end-to-end encryption and in-flight risk scoring to detect fraud before execution.
• Treasury Precision: Delivers real-time net-position visibility and continuous settlement accounting to optimise liquidity management for participating lenders.

“The National Payment Stack represents an economic catalyst, moving our financial infrastructure from basic transaction processing to comprehensive payment intelligence. By delivering an ISO 20022-compliant, multi-currency rail, we are laying the groundwork for unprecedented interoperability, heightened security and seamless regional trade,” stated Premier Oiwoh, Managing Director and CEO of NIBSS.

He further emphasised that complete ecosystem readiness depends heavily on full participant alignment across technical and operational fronts.

“To guarantee an optimal transaction experience for end-users, it is imperative that all participating financial services institutions immediately activate all related messages and fund transfer credit and debit processing rails.

“NIBSS remains committed to providing continuous technical support, detailed guidelines and integration assistance to help institutions achieve full compliance with KYC validation standards and optimise API consumption.

“This proactive engagement will prevent platform congestion, enforce proper usage standards and safeguard system performance as we work together with all institutions to complete integration for Funds Transfer Debit and advanced messaging capabilities.

“Ultimately, our shared objective is to achieve a seamless, full industry cut-over to the National Payment Stack as we prepare to decommission our 15-year-old legacy NIP rail.”

Reinforcing this call to action, Dr. (Mrs.) Rakiya Opemi Yusuf, Director of the Payments System Supervision Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), urged financial institutions nationwide to accelerate their NPS integration during a recent working visit to the NIBSS headquarters.

Her statement reaffirmed the apex bank’s mandatory requirement and full regulatory support for the ISO 20022 standard within Nigeria’s payment system.

About NIBSS

Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) was incorporated in 1993 and is owned by all licensed banks, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It commenced operations in June 1994.

NIBSS has established modern, world-class infrastructure for handling inter-bank payments to eliminate potential bottlenecks associated with inter-bank funds transfer and settlement.

The operations of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc are supported by advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure for automated online operations, as well as effective information and data transmission security practices designed to deliver world-class payment and settlement services.

Operational and credit risks associated with funds transfers across financial institutions are adequately mitigated through NIBSS operations.