NIBSS Processes 26.55 Million Transactions as First Bank Leads Volume, Fidelity Bank Tops Value

LAGOS, Nigeria — August 11, 2026 — The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc has commenced the rollout of the National Payment Stack (NPS), a sovereign, ISO 20022-compliant digital infrastructure designed to replace the legacy NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) system and modernise Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.
The new platform has already recorded 26.55 million transactions valued at ₦1.4 trillion across 48 participating financial institutions, signalling strong early adoption of the new payment infrastructure.
First Bank of Nigeria currently leads the industry in total transaction volume, while Fidelity Bank ranks highest in overall transaction value. Other major institutions contributing to the early growth of the platform include Guaranty Trust Bank, Sterling Bank, Access Bank and Moniepoint.
According to NIBSS, the National Payment Stack unifies payments, identity and data on a single intelligent rail, while its multi-currency architecture is designed to support transaction processing, payment intelligence and cross-border transactions.
The platform introduces an ISO 20022 data architecture, allowing financial institutions to process structured and metadata-rich transactions. This is expected to improve corporate reconciliation, streamline merchant collections and support request-to-pay invoicing.
The NPS also consolidates single transfers and high-volume corporate disbursements on one platform, with support for direct debits, asynchronous processing and deferred settlement options.
Security and compliance have also been embedded into the system through automated sanctions screening, account validation, end-to-end encryption and real-time risk scoring designed to identify potential fraud before transactions are executed.
The platform further provides financial institutions with real-time visibility of their net positions and continuous settlement accounting, which NIBSS said would help lenders improve liquidity and treasury management.
NIBSS Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Premier Oiwoh, described the National Payment Stack as an economic catalyst capable of transforming Nigeria’s financial infrastructure beyond basic transaction processing.
“The National Payment Stack represents an economic catalyst moving our financial infrastructure from basic transaction processing to comprehensive payment intelligence,” Oiwoh said.
He added that the ISO 20022-compliant, multi-currency infrastructure would help create greater interoperability, strengthen security and facilitate regional trade.
Oiwoh also urged all participating financial institutions to immediately activate the required messaging and fund-transfer credit and debit processing rails to ensure full ecosystem readiness.
He said NIBSS would continue providing technical support, guidelines and integration assistance to financial institutions as they work towards compliance with KYC validation standards and improved API usage.
According to him, full integration would help prevent platform congestion, enforce proper usage standards and protect the performance of the payment system as the industry moves towards the complete transition to the NPS.
The Director of the Payments System Supervision Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. (Mrs.) Rakiya Opemi Yusuf, also urged financial institutions to accelerate their integration with the National Payment Stack during a recent working visit to the NIBSS headquarters.
Her position reinforces the CBN’s regulatory support for the adoption of the ISO 20022 standard across Nigeria’s payment system.
NIBSS said the ultimate objective is to achieve a seamless, industry-wide transition to the National Payment Stack ahead of the planned decommissioning of the 15-year-old legacy NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) rail.