Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched the Payment System Vision (PSV) 2028, a strategic roadmap aimed at expanding financial inclusion to 95 per cent of the adult population and strengthening Nigeria’s position as Africa’s leading digital payments hub.
Speaking at the launch of the initiative in Abuja, the Governor of the CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, said the vision was designed to transform how Nigerians transact, save, invest and participate in the digital economy over the next three years.
Cardoso said the roadmap was expected to bring an estimated 50 million additional Nigerians into the formal financial system by 2028 through increased access to banking and digital financial services.
“Today, we unveil more than a payment strategy. We unveil a vision for how Nigerians will transact, trade, save, invest and participate in an increasingly digital economy,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria has made significant progress in digital payments over the past two decades, driven by innovations in instant payments, financial technology and broader adoption of digital financial services.
He said the new vision would build on these achievements by accelerating the transition to a more inclusive, secure and technology-driven financial ecosystem.
“Inclusion and not exclusion must define our future. Under Vision 2028, I would like to see this reaching 95 per cent inclusion. That means 50 million more market women, farmers and young people will have a bank account or wallet in their name, with their name and BVN protecting them,” Cardoso said.
The CBN governor noted that payment infrastructure had become a strategic national asset capable of driving productivity, reducing transaction costs, enhancing transparency and supporting trade and investment.
Under the roadmap, the apex bank aims to reduce the volume of cash circulating outside the banking system to below 40 per cent of total currency in circulation.
The vision also targets the deployment of more than 10 million Quick Response (QR) code and tap-to-pay acceptance points across markets, transportation hubs, rural communities and commercial centres nationwide.
Cardoso disclosed that the CBN would leverage artificial intelligence and advanced identity verification systems to reduce fraud losses to less than 0.001 per cent of total transactions.
He added that the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) currently processes millions of instant payment transactions daily, with most settlements completed in less than 10 seconds.
According to him, the objective is to further improve transaction speed, reliability and accessibility across the financial system.
The roadmap also places significant emphasis on open banking and innovation, with more than 100 licensed application programming interfaces (APIs) already available to support collaboration and product development within the financial services industry.
The CBN said the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s broader economic reform agenda and is expected to improve access to financial services for underserved populations, including women, farmers, traders and young entrepreneurs.
It added that the framework would also support opportunities arising from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by enabling faster, more efficient and secure cross-border payment systems.
Cardoso stressed that the success of the initiative would depend on effective implementation and collaboration among financial institutions, fintech companies, regulators and other stakeholders.
“The success of PSV 2028 will not be measured by the quality of the document. It will be measured by execution,” he said.
Nigeria has emerged as one of Africa’s leading digital payment markets, supported by the rapid growth of fintech companies, mobile money services, digital banking and instant payment platforms.
Industry analysts say the successful implementation of the Payment System Vision 2028 could significantly deepen financial inclusion, boost economic activity and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a regional leader in digital finance.
