Nigeria’s real-time payments infrastructure is one of the most mature on the continent. The Central Bank of Nigeria’s 2025 Fintech Policy Insight Report, developed through a nationwide ecosystem survey and two closed-door stakeholder roundtables, places the NIBSS NIP platform among the leading real-time payment systems globally. The platform processed close to 11 billion transactions in 2024, up from 5 billion in 2022.¹ Today, more than 25% of all electronic transactions in Nigeria run through real-time payment channels.¹
For mid-tier commercial banks processing their share of this volume, the operational question is a direct one: is the payment layer inside your bank built to handle transactions at this scale, at this pace of growth?
The operational pressure behind the numbers
Transaction growth at the rate Nigeria is experiencing places strain on payment infrastructure sized for an earlier generation of volumes. The CBN report documents this directly: payment system resilience emerged as a named stakeholder concern during the roundtable process, with specific reference to interbank coordination gaps during high-volume periods.
The CBN’s own case study draws on the December holiday period known locally as “Detty December.” During this period, transaction volumes spike as salary disbursements and diaspora remittances converge with the year-end surge in retail spending. Multiple fintech stakeholders reported significant surges in downtime and service interruptions, particularly on weekends and public holidays.¹
If your bank built its payment infrastructure for average-day loads, peak periods are where the exposure shows. When volume spikes meet infrastructure built for lower loads, failed transactions and reconciliation backlogs follow, and the operational consequences extend across your corporate and retail portfolio.
The infrastructure architecture the CBN roundtable is recommending
The CBN Fintech Roundtable produced a specific infrastructure recommendation alongside the volume data. Senior industry stakeholders proposed a hybrid model for Nigeria’s next-generation payments architecture. The model maintains core clearing and settlement centrally, while federating the service and innovation layer through certified private operators connected via open APIs. The design principle combines central stability with distributed innovation, ensuring redundancy and eliminating single points of failure.¹
The recommendation carries weight because it emerged from operators and senior financial services professionals engaging directly with the central bank. Their proposal describes an architecture where the bank retains its core ledger function and routes payment processing through a dedicated, separately managed layer, connected by open APIs and governed by enforceable service level agreements.
What this means for a mid-tier commercial bank
The hybrid model the CBN roundtable proposes works alongside your existing core banking system. A bank running T24, Flexcube, or Finacle introduces the payment processing layer via API or MQ integration. In this architecture, the CBS handles the ledger function and the payment layer manages processing, routing, scheme compliance, and fee collection independently.
The payment layer absorbs NIBSS mandate updates, processing them as platform-level changes. The platform validates and encrypts bulk files with AES/3DES before processing, removing manual touchpoints from the bulk file cycle. Reconciliation runs in real time, and the architecture handles peak-period volume loads because it is purpose-built for payment throughput.
At Xpertek, we have deployed this architecture alongside T24, Flexcube, and Finacle environments across 36+ banks in 21 countries, processing R32bn+ per month collectively. Deployment typically runs in months.
Building for the volumes ahead
Nigeria’s payment volumes will continue to grow. The CBN’s Payments System Vision 2025 targets near-universal e-payment penetration by 2030, and the pace of growth documented in the report signals how quickly the operating environment is shifting.¹ The banks building their payment infrastructure for this environment are the ones whose operational performance will hold as volumes increase and resilience standards tighten.
For your bank, the question is a practical one: does your payment infrastructure handle the volumes your clients will route through it, at the standard your regulator is moving toward?
The hybrid architecture the industry is recommending is available today. If you want to understand what it looks like in practice for your CBS platform and your current transaction environment, we are available to walk you through it. Our payment switching platform, SFI eVolve, is built for this market.
Contact Anneke Weber at anneke.weber@xpertek.co.za or visit xpertek.co.za/xpertek-sfi-evolve
Frequently asked questions
What is the current state of Nigeria’s real-time payment transaction volumes?
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 2025 Fintech Policy Insight Report, the NIBSS NIP platform processed close to 11 billion transactions in 2024, up from 5 billion in 2022. More than 25% of all electronic transactions in Nigeria now run through real-time payment channels.
What is a hybrid payment infrastructure model?
A hybrid payment infrastructure model maintains core clearing and settlement centrally while routing the service and innovation layer through certified operators connected via open APIs. This separates payment processing from the core banking ledger, providing redundancy and allowing each layer to be optimised independently.
How does a mid-tier African bank implement a hybrid payment infrastructure?
A bank running T24, Flexcube, or Finacle introduces a dedicated payment switching layer alongside its existing CBS via API or MQ integration. The CBS retains its account management function. The payment switch manages bulk processing, scheme compliance, and fee collection independently. Implementation with a pre-integrated solution typically runs in months.
What is SFI eVolve?
SFI eVolve is a payment switching and processing hub built for mid-tier African banks. It manages bulk payments, internet banking, and service fee collection in a single platform, with pre-built connectors for T24, Flexcube, and Finacle. It processes R32bn+ per month across 36+ installations in 21 countries.
References
¹ Central Bank of Nigeria. Shaping the future of fintech in Nigeria: Innovation, inclusion and integrity. CBN Fintech Report, Policy Insight Series. Central Bank of Nigeria, 2025. URL pending — confirm final published URL with CBN before Bev uploads. Date sourced: June 2026.
