A recent report says the earnings of Nigeria’s Deposit Money Banks from digital payment platforms grew by 64% to reach N212.66 billion in 2019. With this current pandemic showing no signs of slowing down and the efforts put in place to achieving social distancing, this number is expected to increase exponentially.

Simply put, the crisis could accelerate the shift to online payments as more services reassess their reliance on face-to-face transactions.

The effect of the virus scare

Medical experts have established that the COVID-19 can remain alive and infectious up to three days on a surface. This increases the chances that whatever surfaces can be touched by many people in a day can be a medium to transmit the virus. For this reason, governments across the world (including in Nigeria) are increasingly encouraging contactless payments, thereby changing the landscape of digital payments and security measures. In Nigeria, logistics and eCommerce companies like Jumia have already switched to contactless payments to minimize risk to employees and customers.