Payments in Nigeria: cards, bank transfer, USSD and what a foreign store should ask

Nigeria rewards a checkout built for how people actually pay. A foreign store that shows a dollar card form will reach some customers, but many Nigerians are used to paying by bank transfer from an app, with a card on a local scheme, or from a wallet. The money then has to get back out of naira, which is where most of the hard questions sit.

This article covers how Nigerians pay online, how bank transfer and USSD work at checkout, what Paystack and Flutterwave need from a merchant, how Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rules and naira FX affect a foreign store, and which transfer charges apply. For the provider questions across several African markets, see choosing providers for Africa. The Nigeria guide covers tax and consumer rules.

How do Nigerians pay online?

By card and bank transfer, and the numbers depend on who is counting.

Source	What it measures	Cards	Bank transfer	Wallets	Other
PPRO	Nigerian e-commerce, undated	37%	29%	10%	Cash 16%, other 8%
Paystack, via Techpoint Africa	Transactions on Paystack, 2023	36%	58%	Not shown	Internet banking 4%

The gap is not a contradiction. PPRO describes a market, including cash. Paystack’s figures cover one online payment platform, and they are three years old. Both agree on the main point: a checkout with cards alone misses a large group of shoppers, and the two rails together carry most online payments.

Inside cards, local schemes matter. PPRO puts local schemes at 52% of card volume, Mastercard at 30% and Visa at 18%. A provider that processes only international cards will miss many Nigerian cardholders, so ask about Verve by name.

The wider picture shows how digital the country has become. Leadership, citing the CBN’s 2025 Annual Report, reports 47.879 billion e-payment transactions worth NGN 3.458 quadrillion in 2025. Mobile money operators alone handled 28.741 billion transactions worth NGN 372.14 trillion.

Wallets are the method to watch. OPay shows the scale: its US listing documents report 50.1 million monthly active users across its markets on 31 July 2026. Flutterwave’s documentation lists OPay as a payment option for NGN, next to card, USSD, bank transfer and others. Our page on OPay covers how a payment works.

How does bank transfer work at checkout?

The provider issues a temporary account number for the order, and the customer pays it from their banking app. Paystack calls this Pay with Transfer. Its documentation describes the flow:

1. The merchant creates the charge, and Paystack returns an account number for that transaction.
2. The customer sends the exact amount from their bank app.
3. The account expires after the transaction or at a set time, from 15 minutes to 8 hours. The default is 8 hours.
4. A webhook confirms success, or reports a rejection for a wrong amount or a fraud flag.

Flutterwave’s NGN bank transfer works the same way: its API returns account details, the customer pays, and a webhook reports the result, which the merchant should verify before completing the order.

Three things follow for a foreign store. The checkout has to show a clear amount and a countdown, because a wrong amount is rejected. The order has to wait for the webhook rather than the customer’s “I have paid” click. And you need a plan for late payments, because Flutterwave’s page does not say what happens to money sent after an account expires. Ask your provider. Paystack also says merchants must contact it to enable this channel.

Refunds are transfers back, so check how your provider handles them. Our article on refunds across local methods explains the pattern.

Where does USSD fit?

USSD lets a customer pay by dialling a code on their phone, with no banking app needed. It is a fallback now, not a lead method. The CBN figures reported by Leadership show 669.55 million USSD transactions in 2025, up 20.89%. That is about 1.4% of the e-payment total, on our arithmetic. A ThisDay opinion piece, which names no source, says its share of payment value has fallen to 0.14% as smartphone users move to banking apps.

Coverage differs by provider, so check it. Paystack’s documentation lists four banks: Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa, Sterling Bank and Zenith Bank. Flutterwave’s lists 18 banks, including Access Bank, First Bank, Ecobank and Fidelity Bank. Both flows end with a webhook, so USSD is asynchronous like transfer. The customer dials the code on the phone linked to their account, and on Paystack authenticates with a PIN.

Offer it if your provider has it and some of your customers cannot use a banking app. Keep it below cards and transfer.

What do Paystack and Flutterwave need from a merchant?

These are the two names most merchants meet first, and both are built around Nigerian business customers. That shapes what a foreign store can do.

Paystack. Its compliance list for Nigeria is built on local registration: Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) documents, a Tax Identification Number, proof of address, and owners holding at least 50% for private companies. Paystack says the CBN requires directors to consent to Bank Verification Number (BVN) validation. Paystack’s page does not cover foreign directors and points them to its support team. Its Pay with Bank channel is described as available to Nigerian businesses, and its international payments page is written for them too.

Flutterwave. Its documentation shows a wider door, at least for one product. NGN virtual accounts are available to Nigerian merchants by default, and non-Nigerian merchants must request the feature by email. Its payment methods page lists card, USSD, bank transfer, account, internet banking, NQR, eNaira and OPay for NGN.

We could not find a published list of which foreign entities either provider accepts. So ask directly, and get the answer in writing.

Route	What the shopper sees	What you need	Main risk
Cross-border cards in USD	Dollar price, card form	A global acquirer	Bank limits, FX surprise, declines
Local methods through a foreign provider	Naira price, transfer and cards	A provider with a Nigerian partner	Settlement terms, conversion margin
Nigerian company with a local provider	Naira price, all local methods	CAC entity, BVN checks, Nigerian bank account	Getting money out, compliance cost

How do CBN rules and naira FX affect a foreign store?

We found no CBN rule written specifically for foreign online sellers, so the effect is indirect. Four areas matter.

FX paperwork. The CBN’s 2026 Foreign Exchange Manual was launched on 16 May 2026 and took effect on 1 June, replacing the 2018 edition, according to WTS Blackwoodstone. WTS says banks that process FX without adequate documents face a NGN 100 million base fine plus NGN 10 million per transaction. Expect banks and providers to ask for more paperwork, not less. The Manual also recognises service export receipts and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, and neither review we read covers e-commerce or payment providers by name.

Card limits abroad. A naira card charged in dollars draws on a bank’s limit. These limits were cut hard during the FX shortage, as our Africa guide describes, and they have since risen. Nairametrics reported in September 2026:

Bank	Limit on naira cards abroad
GTBank	USD 40,000 a quarter
Zenith Bank	USD 50,000 a year
FirstBank (Naira Mastercard)	USD 10,000 a quarter across POS and online
Stanbic IBTC (Mastercard)	USD 8,000 a quarter

The same article quotes an economist saying the limits could be reviewed if there is evidence of abuse, so treat them as today’s figures. For most consumer orders, the rate and the bank’s approval now matter more than the cap.

The exchange rate. The official market traded close to NGN 1,333 to the dollar in early October 2026, with Nairametrics reporting NGN 1,332.75 on 7 October. It also noted uneven daily turnover. Ask when your provider converts, at what rate and with what margin. Pricing in naira moves the FX risk from the customer to you, so review prices on a schedule.

Getting money out. Paystack’s page shows the default for its Nigerian merchants: you are paid in naira. USD payouts need a Zenith Bank domiciliary account. Its published fees for international cards, for Nigerian businesses, are 3.9% plus NGN 100 on naira charges and 3.9% on USD charges.

If you set up a Nigerian company, capital matters. Pavestones says the Manual codifies the electronic Certificate of Capital Importation, that capital must be registered within 24 to 48 hours of inflow, and that failing to do so may damage the legal standing of the investment. Take Nigerian legal advice before money moves.

Which transfer charges apply?

The main one is stamp duty. Paystack’s support page says a flat NGN 50 applies to merchant transfers of NGN 10,000 or more made on or after 18 February 2026, as a government levy under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025. It comes on top of Paystack’s own transfer fees of NGN 10 up to NGN 5,000, NGN 25 up to NGN 50,000, and NGN 50 above that. So a NGN 100,000 transfer costs NGN 100,100 in total.

It applies to outflows from the merchant’s balance, so it affects payouts and refunds paid as transfers rather than the customer’s checkout. Paystack does not charge the customer stamp duty when they pay a merchant by transfer: the sender’s bank handles any duty on those payments, and may charge its own customer for the transfer. Registered payroll merchants are exempt. Other providers may apply this differently, so ask.

What should a foreign store ask a provider?

1. Can you onboard our entity for Nigeria? Ask about card, transfer, USSD and OPay separately.
2. Do you process Verve on a local route? Ask for approval rates by issuing bank.
3. Can you charge in naira for us? Ask how you convert, at what margin and on what date.
4. What do you settle in, and how fast? Ask per method, and what has delayed settlement in the past.
5. Which documents do you and your banks need to move money abroad? The FX Manual makes this question more important.
6. How do you handle wrong amounts and late transfers? Ask for the customer journey, not only the webhook.
7. Which USSD banks are live today? Lists differ widely between providers.
8. How do refunds work on transfers? Ask who pays transfer fees and stamp duty.

How does Omno help with Nigerian payments?

Omno puts the providers you choose behind one integration, and each provider onboards you separately. Where a connected provider offers cards, bank transfer, USSD or OPay in Nigeria, your team can add them in the no-code checkout builder and show them by country, currency and amount, with no release needed. Routing rules decide which provider receives each payment, and if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts. The payment orchestration page shows how providers are configured.