Nigeria’s end-of-year festive season, otherwise known as Detty December, placed significant strain on the country’s digital payment systems, exposing weaknesses in coordination, communication and operational resilience, according to a new report by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN’s Fintech Report says a sharp rise in consumer spending, travel-related remittances and retail transactions during the festive period put intense pressure on instant payment channels, banks and fintech platforms.
“Several fintechs,” according to the Nigerian apex bank, “reported significant surges in downtime and service interruptions, especially on weekends and public holidays.”
“Several fintechs,” according to the Nigerian apex bank, “reported significant surges in downtime and service interruptions, especially on weekends and public holidays.”
Detty December downtimes highlight broader ecosystem gaps, CBN says
Beyond infrastructure capacity, the CBN notes that the disruptions highlighted broader ecosystem challenges, particularly gaps in coordination among banks, payment service providers and settlement platforms.
“The seasonal stress test has reinforced the ecosystem’s focus on resilience, offering insights to strengthen infrastructure, improve contingency planning, and enhance real-time communication between the CBN, NIBSS, banks, and payment service providers,” the report says.
Nigeria operates one of Africa’s most extensive real-time payment systems, with instant transfers now embedded in daily economic activity. According to the report, transaction volumes have expanded rapidly, rising from about five billion instant payment transactions in 2022 to nearly 11 billion in 2024.
Despite this scale, the CBN says the Detty December experience showed that transaction growth has outpaced the coordination mechanisms required to manage peak demand effectively.
Among its recommendations, the CBN calls for clearer and enforceable regulations jointly developed by its payments supervision and risk departments, alongside regular stress testing of payment infrastructure to simulate peak demand periods such as Detty December.
While stakeholders surveyed broadly described Nigeria’s payment infrastructure as resilient, views were evenly split between those rating the system “very resilient” and others describing it as “generally resilient”.
“With half of respondents citing inter-institutional coordination as the top improvement area,” the report notes.
The report adds that service disruptions during peak periods often left customers without timely or clear information, amplifying frustration and undermining confidence in digital payments.
“Participants emphasised that visibility and communication are just as important as capacity,” it says.
According to the CBN, limited transparency during outages weakens trust in electronic payments at a time when more Nigerians rely on digital channels for everyday transactions, including food purchases, transport, entertainment and accommodation, especially during the festive season.
The report also highlights structural constraints that become more pronounced during periods of exceptionally high transaction volumes. Stakeholders raised concerns about settlement limits and processing thresholds on some instant payment channels, arguing that they no longer reflect current economic realities.
One example cited is the existing transaction limit on certain instant payment systems, which the report notes was introduced nearly a decade ago.
“Any review of the transaction threshold must be undertaken carefully, to ensure the right balance between efficiency and financial stability,” the report says.
The CBN warns that poorly calibrated adjustments could divert high-value payments away from the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system or introduce new risks into retail payment channels.
Placing Nigeria’s festive-season challenges in a global context, the report compares the country’s real-time payment infrastructure with large-scale systems such as India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). While Nigeria’s system is regarded as mature, the CBN says sustained leadership will require continuous improvement.
“This report now seeks to crystallise actionable policy options and institutional steps that can help Nigeria consolidate its leadership position in fintech while strengthening resilience, inclusion, and consumer trust,” the report states.
Among its recommendations, the CBN calls for clearer and enforceable regulations jointly developed by its payments supervision and risk departments, alongside regular stress testing of payment infrastructure to simulate peak demand periods such as Detty December.
Stakeholders also proposed minimum service-level standards, predefined maintenance windows and temporary operational adjustments during known high-volume periods.
The report further recommends deploying real-time dashboards to improve visibility across the payments ecosystem, enabling regulators and operators to detect bottlenecks early.
According to the CBN, the Detty December experience underscores the need for stronger coordination as Nigeria deepens digital payments adoption.
“These pressures reflect a convergence of seasonal behaviour and digital reliance: a spike in discretionary spending, travel-related remittances, and year-end salary disbursements compound demand across payments infrastructure,” the report says.
While the festive season exposed operational weaknesses, the CBN views the episode as a learning opportunity, noting that lessons from Detty December will inform ongoing efforts to strengthen payment system resilience, improve outage communication and sustain public confidence in Nigeria’s digital financial services.
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