Nigerian Journal of Banking and Financial Issues (NJBFI)

THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN ADVANCING FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF KEY DIGITAL CHANNELS

Abstract

This study examines the role of digital financial channels in advancing financial inclusion in Nigeria, focusing on Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point-of-Sale (POS) systems, web banking, and mobile money. Annual data from 2012 to 2022 were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Reserve Economic Data. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller test confirmed stationarity of the variables, while the Granger causality test was used to assess predictive relationships between all the variables. The results show two significant unidirectional causalities at the 5% statistical significant level from mobile account ownership to mobile money transactions, and from POS transactions to web banking. These findings suggest that expanding mobile account ownership drives greater use of mobile money, while increased POS usage supports wider adoption of web-based banking. In contrast, the causal links from ATMs to POS transactions and from mobile money to POS transactions were not significant at the 5% statistical significant level, indicating weaker predictive effects. Based on these findings, the study recommends policies that encourage mobile account ownership and strengthen POS infrastructure to build on the significant channels of influence, while addressing barriers that may limit the potential of ATMs and mobile money in supporting inclusion.