• Nigeria implemented the National Payment Stack (NPS), a new unified infrastructure, to enhance digital payment interoperability.

• The NPS offers Fintechs direct access to the payment system, moving beyond the previous bank-centric model.

• The new platform utilizes the international ISO 20022 standard and supports instant, multi-ecosystem settlements.

Nigeria has modernized its payment infrastructure with the launch of the National Payment Stack (NPS), a unified platform. This initiative aims to strengthen interoperability between banks and fintech firms within a rapidly transforming digital payments market. The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) announced the new infrastructure, which seeks to accelerate digital transactions across the country.

The first live transaction successfully occurred on Friday, November 7, 2025. The fintech PalmPay executed the transaction with Wema Bank, which proceeded "in a few milliseconds" with instant settlement, according to a NIBSS statement. NIBSS hopes the NPS will eventually serve as a gateway for cross-border African transactions.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) supervised the creation of the NPS. The new system replaces the NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP), which the CBN established in 2011. The NIP system had positioned Nigeria as an African pioneer in instant transfers; however, its architecture became difficult to scale alongside the rapid growth and diversification of digital payments actors. CBN data indicates that the number of NIP transactions increased more than tenfold between 2015 and 2024, surpassing 9 billion operations annually.

Nigeria's traditional payment strategy historically relied upon an "all-bank" model. This approach stemmed from the Payments System Vision 2020 program, which the CBN launched in 2007. The core idea aimed to build an ecosystem where banking institutions dominated, requiring all financial services—transfers, payments, or credit—to pass through a bank account.

The exponential rise of mobile-first fintechs like OPay, PalmPay, and Kuda has since transformed the landscape, revealing the limitations of the previous approach. These non-traditional actors enable payments, transfers, and microcredit without utilizing traditional banking channels, reaching millions of unbanked customers. TechCabal reports that Nigerian platforms processed over 70% of the total volume of electronic payments in Africa in 2024, with local fintechs now managing more than half of the nation's digital transactions.

Previously, fintechs could only access the payment system via partner banks. Crucially, the NPS now offers fintechs direct connection and full integration into the national payment ecosystem.

The new platform utilizes the international financial messaging standard ISO 20022. The NPS introduces a "multi-rail" architecture, capable of connecting banks, mobile money operators, and payment service providers simultaneously. It also facilitates instant settlements, even between different ecosystems, and could eventually interface with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).

Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, expects the NPS will strengthen financial inclusion for the more than 38 million adults who remain unbanked.

The NPS launch follows the recent implementation of the PI-SPI instant payment system in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), which the BCEAO coordinated. Both initiatives demonstrate the accelerating modernization of digital payments across West Africa.

This article was initially published in French by Fiacre E. Kakpo

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum