By Ayomide Otitoju
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled an ambitious reform agenda aimed at achieving 95 per cent financial inclusion and enabling near-instant digital transactions by 2028, as part of its newly launched Payments System Vision 2028 (PSV 2028).
Speaking at the launch of the framework in Abuja on Monday, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso said the initiative is designed to bring an additional 15 million Nigerians into the formal financial system, including market women, farmers and young people.
“The goal is inclusion, not exclusion,” Cardoso said, adding that cash should no longer dominate economic transactions by 2028.
According to him, PSV 2028 represents a blueprint for how Nigerians will transact, trade, save and participate in an increasingly digital economy, building on over two decades of transformation in the country’s payments ecosystem.
He described payment infrastructure as the “invisible roads that move money,” stressing that efficient payment systems are critical to economic growth, competitiveness and poverty reduction.
Cardoso said the framework seeks to strengthen payment infrastructure, deepen financial inclusion, support innovation, enhance system resilience and improve Nigeria’s integration into regional and global payment networks.
He emphasised that successful implementation, rather than policy formulation, would determine the initiative’s impact.
“The success of this vision will not be measured by the document, but by execution,” he said, warning against the country’s long-standing pattern of policy discontinuity.
The CBN governor disclosed that one of the key targets of PSV 2028 is to increase financial inclusion to 95 per cent, expanding access to formal financial services for millions of Nigerians currently outside the banking system.
He noted that digital financial access is directly linked to poverty reduction and economic participation, arguing that access to efficient payment systems enables citizens to engage more fully in economic activities.
Cardoso also projected significant improvements in transaction speed, stating that by 2028, Nigerians should be able to send and receive money “faster than a blink.”
While current payment systems process millions of transactions daily, with most completed in under 10 seconds, he said the next phase of reforms would eliminate remaining inefficiencies, interoperability challenges and settlement delays.
On security, Cardoso said the apex bank aims to reduce fraud losses to less than 0.001 per cent of total transactions by 2028 through the integration of National Identification Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) systems, alongside artificial intelligence-powered fraud detection technologies.
“A payment system is only as strong as the trust people place in it,” he said. “People’s money must be safer in the digital system than under their mattresses.”
The CBN governor also highlighted the role of the payments reform in driving economic growth, noting that efficient payment systems reduce transaction costs, improve productivity, support trade flows and strengthen investor confidence.
He said the vision is also aimed at positioning Nigeria as a global fintech hub, with the potential to produce internationally competitive fintech unicorns.
According to Cardoso, ongoing open banking reforms have unlocked more than 100 Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), creating new opportunities for innovation and financial services expansion.
He urged Nigerian fintech operators and innovators to leverage the country’s growing digital infrastructure to build globally competitive solutions from cities such as Lagos, Abuja and Kano.
“We must move from being a fintech adoption market to a fintech production and export economy,” he said.
Cardoso further called on stakeholders to work collectively to ensure the successful implementation of the vision, stressing the need for measurable outcomes and sustained collaboration.
The launch was attended by key industry stakeholders, including the Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank Plc, Abubakar Suleiman; Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Premier Oiwoh; Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr. Emomotimi Agama; and Managing Director of Remita Payment Services Limited, Deremi Atanda.
The CBN said the Payments System Vision 2028 is expected to support national prosperity by expanding financial access, accelerating digital payments, enhancing security and fostering innovation across Nigeria’s financial ecosystem.
