(Ecofin Agency) - Leading online payment service provider, PayU, has said that it is increasing its efforts to connect businesses to Nigeria’s online payment market this year. This is expected to increase annual online payments in the country to over N200 billion ($623mln) against the N167billion ($520mln) last year.

“In order to pursue PayU’s aggressive expansion in the online payment market in Nigeria, we have identified businesses that can benefit from our global expertise across 16 markets where we offer over 250 payment options,” Juliet Nwanguma, Manager of PayU Nigeria, said.

According to the Manager, with over 180 million people which includes 63 million active bank customers and an e-payment transaction worth N56 trillion ($174bln) a year, the chances for online payment Nigeria is huge and waiting to be explored. Leveraging on the country’s 97 million active internet users, PayU is assured that it can help businesses boost their market share and achieve their set objectives.

“Since last year when we entered the Nigerian market, we have succeeded in successfully assisting small, medium and large organizations with their online payments. In particular, the robust and flexible features of PayU Plus and PayU Enterprise have assisted merchants to grow and expand their online payment businesses,” Nwanguma added.

Recent data from the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has shown that 5.5 million transactions worth N46.7 billion ($145mln) were generated through online sales in Q1 of 2017, against the per quarter average of 3.5 million transactions worth N33 billion ($103mln) in 2016.

Anita Fatunji