The sharp rise, a 198% increase, underscores a deeper truth about the country’s economy: cash remains king, even in a rapidly digitising financial landscape.

The data, drawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Quarterly Statistical Bulletin, reveal that despite efforts to nudge consumers toward digital channels, cash continues to play an outsized role in daily transactions.

Between January and June 2025, Nigerians made 858.8 million ATM withdrawals, a significant jump from 496.5 million in the same period of the previous year, a near 73% increase in volume.

Policy Push Meets Practical Realities

Earlier in 2025, the CBN revised its ATM fee structure, removing the previous allowance of free cross-bank withdrawals and introducing charges on not-on-us transactions, those made at ATMs owned by other banks.

Under the new rules, customers now pay ₦100 per ₦20,000 withdrawn, with additional surcharges on machines located off-site, such as in malls or fuel stations.

The policy was intended to encourage greater efficiency in ATM operations and reduce excessive cash reliance by making physical withdrawals more expensive.

Yet the surge in usage suggests that cost-sensitive consumers have little choice but to keep cash close at hand, even as fees bite deeper into their wallets.

Why Nigerians Still Reach for Cash

Analysts and industry watchers point to several factors driving this trend:

• Persistent Cash Demand: Many Nigerians still depend on cash for everyday transactions, especially in informal markets where digital acceptance is limited.
• Economic Access: For low-income earners and small traders, withdrawing smaller sums more frequently is often a necessity, even if it incurs higher costs.
• Trust and Convenience: Cash provides certainty and immediate liquidity in a context where network issues, agent reliability and digital fraud concerns can discourage electronic transactions.
• Infrastructure Gaps: While point-of-sale (POS) and mobile money channels are expanding, they have not yet displaced cash as the default means for many consumers and businesses.

These trends are reflected across monthly data, with ATM withdrawals climbing steadily from January through June 2025, even as payment channels such as POS see robust growth.

Broader Implications for Policy and the Economy

The persistence of cash usage raises questions about the effectiveness of policies aimed at accelerating Nigeria’s transition toward a cashless economy.

While electronic payments continue to expand in absolute terms, the accelerated growth in ATM withdrawals indicates that underlying behaviour has not shifted as quickly as policymakers hoped.

Economists warn that an overreliance on cash can undermine monetary control, limit financial inclusion, and slow the adoption of more efficient digital channels.

At the same time, fees designed to discourage cash use can disproportionately hurt vulnerable populations who lack access to alternatives.

What Comes Next?

As the CBN and financial institutions work to expand digital infrastructure and payment options, the data on cash withdrawals serves as a reminder of the challenges ahead.

For many Nigerians, cash is not just a medium of exchange, it is a lifeline in an economy where electronic alternatives are still not fully accessible or trusted.

Whether through policy refinements, financial education or broader acceptance of digital channels, the push to balance cash and digital transactions will remain a central theme of Nigeria’s financial evolution.

Fast forward to today, and millions of people live without wallets at all. Not because they lost them, but because they no longer need them.

This is not a passing trend. It is a generational shift. Mobile money is no longer the future we anticipate; it is the present we are living in.

As of 2025, more than 2.1 billion people globally hold mobile money accounts. In 2024 alone, over $1.7 trillion moved through these digital wallets.

Remarkably, Africa accounted for more than 72% of those transactions, proving that the continent is not just catching up but leading this financial transformation.

The mobile wallet has become far more than a substitute for cash. It is the central nervous system of modern financial life, particularly for young, underserved and mobile-first communities who have leapfrogged traditional banking altogether.

At FlashChange, we saw this revolution coming, not through forecasts or boardroom theories but by listening. We listened to students, traders, freelancers building global careers from their homes, and families navigating life across the globe.

They weren’t asking for “banking” as we’ve known it. They were asking for speed, trust and control.

So we built FlashChange around those values. Not to digitise the old system but to reimagine access.

We designed a wallet that works at the pace of real life: money that moves instantly, an ecosystem where local merchants and market sellers thrive, and a platform where identity, savings, and earnings live together, without bureaucracy, without middlemen.

Sub-Saharan Africa is not just participating in this renaissance; it is leading it. Out of necessity, innovation has flourished. Where banking infrastructure is thin, mobile wallets have become the infrastructure.

A FlashChange user could be a trader in Onitsha moving funds to a supplier, a freelancer in Lekki collecting payments from abroad, or a student in Nairobi receiving school fees from home.

Their incomes may differ, but their intent is the same: they want financial tools that work with them, not against them.

We don’t design for perfect users in perfect conditions. We design for real people, in real time, with real needs. And that is why this moment is bigger than the decline of cash.

We are witnessing the birth of new financial identities, where empowerment, access, and inclusion are not aspirations but lived realities.

At FlashChange, we hold a simple belief: finance should serve people, not the other way around. That is the future we are building.

About the Author

Bidemi Oke is the Chief Executive Officer of FlashChange, a fintech platform focused on secure digital asset exchange. He is an entrepreneur and vibrant leader, recognised for driving innovation and redefining access in the financial technology industry.

The advisory, issued on July 6 and obtained by TechEconomy specifically mentions the Russian Federation, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, and Cameroon.

This warning comes in response to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) classification of these countries as high-risk jurisdictions.

The FATF serves as the global watchdog for money laundering and terrorist financing, setting international standards to combat these illicit activities and mitigate the resulting societal harm.

In addition to the aforementioned nations, other countries on the list include the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Croatia, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

The CBN’s action aligns with the decisions made by FATF members during a recent plenary session held in the previous month.

According to Mr. Chibuzo Efobi, the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation, the circular issued by the CBN emphasizes the following key points:

• The outcomes of the Financial Action Task Force Plenary, held from June 21 to 23, 3023, are significant.
• Cameroon, Croatia, and Vietnam have been added to the list of jurisdictions under “Increased Monitoring.”

• The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, and Myanmar remain on the list of high-risk jurisdictions, subject to a “Call for Action.”

• Banks and other financial institutions must implement enhanced due diligence measures.
• In severe cases, countermeasures may need to be implemented to safeguard the international financial system.

• The suspension of the Russian Federation from the FATF continues to be in effect.

Nigerian banks are urged to adhere to these guidelines and exercise increased vigilance when engaging in financial activities with entities from these countries.

By doing so, they can contribute to the ongoing efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, thereby protecting the integrity of the global financial system.

The CBN made this announcement in a statement on Sunday in response to claims on social media that it intended to stop issuing the recently redesigned N1,000, N500, and N200 currency banknotes.

Nigerians were assured by the CBN that it had received new currency from the Minting Company Limited.

In the statement by its, Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isa AbdulMumin, they called the media reports, and an unfounded ploy to cause panic, they said:

“We wish to emphatically state that such speculation is unfounded and a ploy by some interests to cause panic among members of the public.

“The new and old currency notes have been circulating side by side.

“The CBN has been taking delivery of a good quantity of the redesigned banknotes from the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting Company Limited.”

The CBN boss added that the redesigned and old notes will continue to be accepted as legal tender, urging Nigerians to disregard fake news on CBN’s monetary policy as the CBN is committed to supplying the “approved indent” for the smooth running of the economy, adding:

“We, therefore, urge members of the public to disregard any report suggesting a phase-out of the redesigned currency.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the redesigned and old notes will continue to be accepted as legal tender.

“They will circulate side-by-side for transactions ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline, when the old N1,000, N500, and N200 banknotes will eventually be phased out.”

The apex bank stated that the new directive was intended to reduce the long lines of bank clients surrounding Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) around the country waiting to collect the new naira notes, which had been in short supply.

This was confirmed in a statement made by the CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi, who stated that this is part of the efforts to help Nigerians who are having difficulty obtaining the new notes.

Over-the-counter payment is limited to N20,000.
“In accordance with this determination, the Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has authorized deposit money banks (DMBs) to begin the payment of the redesigned Naira notes over the counter, subject to a maximum daily payout limit of N20,000,” Nwasinobi said.

The CBN acknowledged the difficulty Nigerians have in withdrawing money from ATMs and expressed its commitment to making the procedure more seamless.

It also stated that it is working with competent agencies to punish racketeers of the new naira notes.

The apex bank in the statement added, “We have equally noticed the queues at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the country and an upward trend in the cases of people stocking and aggregating the newly introduced banknotes they serially obtain from ATMs for reasons best known to them. Also worrisome are the reported cases of unregistered persons and non-bank officials swapping banknotes for members of the public, purportedly on behalf of the CBN.

“We wish to state unequivocally that, contrary to the practice of these unpatriotic persons, it is unlawful to sell the Naira, hurl (spray), or stamp on the currency under any circumstance whatsoever.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Section 21(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 2007 (As amended) stipulates that ‘spraying of, dancing or matching on the Naira or any note issued by the Bank during social occasions or otherwise howsoever shall constitute abuse and defacing of the Naira or such note and shall be punishable under the law by fines or imprisonment or both.

“Similarly, Section 21(4) states that ‘It shall also be an offense punishable under Sub-section (1) of this section for any person to hawk, sell or otherwise trade in the Naira notes, coins or any other note issued by the Bank.’”

The memo read, “Further to the launch of the redesigned naira notes by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Wednesday, November 23, 2022, and in line with the cashless policy of the CBN, all deposit money banks and other financial institutions are hereby directed to note and comply with the following:

“1. The maximum cash withdrawal over the counter by individuals and corporate organisations per week shall henceforth be N100,000 and N500,000 respectively. Withdrawals above these limits shall attract processing fees of 5% and 10%, respectively.

“2. Third-party cheques above N50,000 shall not be eligible for payment over the counter, while extant limits of N10,000,000 on clearing cheques still subsist.

“3. The maximum cash withdrawal per week via Automated Teller Machine shall be N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.

Department. ii. Compliance with extant AMUCFT regulations relating to the KYC, ongoing customer due diligence and suspicious transaction reporting etc., is required in all circumstances. iii. Customers should be encouraged to use alternative channels (internet banking, mobile banking apps, USSD, cards/POS. eNaira, etc.) to conduct their banking transactions.

“Finally, please note that aiding and abetting the circumvention of this policy will attract severe sanctions.

“The above regulatory directives take effect nationwide from January 9, 2023. Please be guided accordingly.”

The value of transactions made through this channel has already surpassed the N8 trillion recorded for the entire year 2021, according to NIBSS data for mobile money transfers for the 9-month period. This indicates a rise in the use of mobile phones for financial transactions.

In August a total of N1.8 trillion was transferred over mobile devices. This came as an all-time high monthly value recorded since the deployment of the mobile inter-scheme platform.

According to NIBSS data, when compared to the N5.06 trillion reported during the same period last year, the value of mobile transactions increased by 153% in the first nine months of this year.

The number of mobile inter-scheme transactions increased by 133% from the 188 million transactions reported between January and September of last year to 438 million transactions during the same period this year, according to NIBSS.

The increase in mobile connections across the nation helped fuel the growth in the use of mobile phones for financial transactions. The active subscriber base for mobile services on the networks of MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile increased by 14.4 million in the first eight months of 2022, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of the CBN, disclosed this at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Tuesday.

Emefiele also disclosed that a little over 13,136 wallets have been downloaded over the recently launched USSD channel, which is an unstructured supplementary service data.

“The application has been downloaded by 905,588 users so far, and 282,600 of them are using it right now,” he claimed. 

“Over 1.49 million transactions worth over N3.484 billion have already been made, with the breakdown being as follows: 78,115 consumer-to-bank transactions worth roughly N1 billion, 90,760 customer-to-bank transactions worth roughly N945 million, 35,800 consumer-to-consumer transactions worth roughly N480 million, and 171,000 consumer-to-merchant transactions worth over N387 million.

Emefiele further emphasized the USSD linkage to eNaira’s most recent accomplishment. According to him, 13,136 wallets have so far been established via the USSD channel, which was the one we introduced around three to four weeks ago.

We are pleased with the advancements that have been achieved since then.

He also stated that Nigerians have increased their use of eNaira for online transactions.

He added, “For e-commerce, we have seen a 9.946 percent increase between July and September, and this remains very encouraging.

We believe the eNaira is an alternative to you holding an analog naira and so it is very convenient.”