Nigeria marks milestone as national payment stack executes first live transaction
Story by Martha Gwary
Nigeria’s newly introduced National Payment Stack (NPS) has successfully completed its first live transaction, signalling a major advancement in the nation’s digital payments infrastructure and setting the stage for the gradual replacement of the existing NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) platform.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) confirmed that the inaugural transaction occurred at 11:56 a.m. on Friday, 7 November 2025, between PalmPay and Wema Bank.
The National Payment Stack, designed to transform digital payments in Nigeria and across Africa, builds on the foundation established by NIBSS Instant Payments. The transaction was confirmed to have been processed within milliseconds and settled instantaneously, highlighting the system’s reliability, scalability and readiness to support high-volume digital transactions nationwide.
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According to NIBSS, the NPS represents a next-generation infrastructure engineered to deliver speed, security, interoperability and innovation—core attributes essential for accelerating growth in Nigeria’s digital economy. The platform is built to enable seamless connectivity among banks, fintechs and other licensed payment providers, while incorporating advanced authentication and data protection measures.
A key feature of the NPS is its alignment with the ISO 20022 global financial messaging standard. This adoption enhances data quality, regulatory compliance and cross-border payment capability, ensuring Nigeria’s payment systems remain internationally compatible and future-ready.
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NIBSS noted that the rollout of the NPS continues the legacy of ground-breaking innovation introduced with the NIBSS Instant Payments platform over a decade ago, which became Africa’s first real-time account-based digital payments solution.
At the official launch of the NPS in June 2025, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NIBSS, Mr Premier Oiwoh, described the development as a milestone in efforts to simplify payments, broaden financial inclusion and place Nigeria at the forefront of digital transformation on the continent.
NIBSS extended recognition to PalmPay and Wema Bank for pioneering the first successful live transaction and acknowledged the contributions of financial institutions and technology partners supporting the system’s rollout.
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The organisation encouraged banks, fintech companies and other payment service providers to complete migration to the NPS, in order to offer Nigerians faster, more secure and more inclusive digital payment services as adoption progresses across the financial ecosystem.
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