(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 legacy NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) system and

modernize Nigeria’s financial ecosystem. 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. First Bank 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 also include Guaranty Trust Bank, Sterling Bank, Access Bank and

Moniepoint.

The platform introduces key operational and structural advances across the financial

sector:

• 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 & Compliance: Integrates automated sanction screening,

account validation, end-to-end encryption, and in-flight risk scoring to detect

fraud prior to execution.

• Treasury Precision: Delivers real-time net position visibility and continuous

settlement accounting to optimize liquidity management for participating lenders.

“The National Payment Stack represents is 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 emphasized that complete ecosystem readiness relies 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 optimize 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 NIBSS Headquarters. Her statement reaffirms the apex bank’s mandatory and full

regulatory support for the ISO 20022 standard in 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 put in place modern world-class infrastructures for

handling inter-bank payments in order to remove potential bottlenecks associated with

inter-bank funds transfer and settlement.

Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) operation is supported with the best

Information, Communication and Technology infrastructure for Automated Online

operations as well as effective information and data transmission security practices to

deliver world-class payment/settlement services. Operational and Credit Risks in funds transfer across financial institutions are adequately mitigated by NIBSS operations.