Nigeria’s physical banking shrinks in one year as customers turn to PoS terminals for daily transactions.

Data has shown that the number of Deposit Money Bank branches across the country fell from 5,373 in 2023 to 5,144 in 2024, even as electronic payments, particularly through PoS channels, surged sharply.

The statistics cover branches and cash centres of commercial, merchant and non-interest banks across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The Punch newspaper reports that total number of licensed banks rose from 33 to 35 in 2024, yet the overall physical presence of banks shrank, underscoring how rapidly banking is migrating from brick-and-mortar to electronic platforms.

The data further revealed that PoS terminals are increasingly becoming the preferred alternative to walking into a banking hall.

The volume of PoS transactions jumped from 9.85bn in 2023 to 13.08bn in 2024.

This represents an increase of about 3.23bn transactions, or roughly 33 per cent year on year.

More striking was the surge in the value of PoS transactions, which more than doubled.

The value rose from N110.35tn in 2023 to N223.27tn in 2024, an increase of about N112.93tn or 102 per cent.

ATM usage also rose, but at a much slower pace compared to PoS.

ATM transaction volumes increased from 1.01bn in 2023 to 1.02bn in 2024, representing less than one per cent growth.

The value of ATM transactions rose from N28.21tn to N29.12tn, an increase of about N909bn or just over three per cent.

The figures underline a clear reality that PoS terminals are now far more central to consumer payments than cash withdrawals at machines or visits to physical branches.

The contraction in branch networks was not evenly spread across the country.

Lagos State, which remains Nigeria’s banking hub, still accounted for the highest number of branches with 1,521 in 2024.

However, the state also recorded a decline of 11 branches, down from 1,532 in 2023.

Despite this, Lagos continued to dwarf all other states, with more than five times the number of branches than any other state.

Ebonyi State recorded the single largest decline nationwide, losing 89 branches in one year. The number of branches in the state crashed from 120 in 2023 to just 31 in 2024.

Oyo, Niger, Ekiti and Ondo also recorded sizeable contractions. Oyo State lost 26 branches, bringing the total to 200.

Niger State saw a 32-branch decline, from 108 in 2023 to 76 in 2024.

Ekiti State recorded a reduction of 18 branches, from 83 to 65, while Ondo State also dropped by 18 branches from 127 to 109.

Other states that saw meaningful closures included Anambra and Ogun, with each losing eight branches. Cross River lost five, and Plateau lost seven branches.

The Federal Capital Territory also shed nine branches, bringing the total to 391 in 2024, down from 400 the previous year, further signalling that closures were not limited to rural or semi-urban areas but were occurring even in major population and commercial centres.

Not all states experienced shrinking bank footprints. Some areas recorded increases in the number of branches.

Delta State added six new branches, rising from 182 to 188. Rivers State increased from 272 to 280. Edo, Kaduna and Kano each gained eight additional branches in the year. Katsina added three, Adamawa and Jigawa added two each, while Kogi gained one.

These increases suggest that branch expansion now tends to follow areas with rising commercial activity or population growth, even while the national total continues to fall.

Banks and their customers in Nigeria are now operating within what has become a rapidly changing financial system, where new regulations and technological adoption are forcing lenders to rethink how services are designed and delivered.