FirstBank Nigeria has expanded access to the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), allowing customers to make cross-border payments across Africa directly through its LIT App, FirstMobile and FirstOnline digital banking platforms.

The development is expected to make intra-African payments faster, cheaper and more accessible, particularly for small businesses, traders, freelancers and other customers who have traditionally relied on conventional foreign exchange and correspondent banking channels to send money across African borders.

Under the new arrangement, customers do not need a separate onboarding process to access PAPSS. They simply log into any of FirstBank’s participating digital channels, select PAPSS and initiate their transactions.

The bank said individuals can currently transact through the digital channels up to the naira equivalent of $2,000 per month, while corporate customers can transact up to the local currency equivalent of $5,000 monthly.

The introduction of PAPSS on FirstBank’s major digital channels is significant because the cost and complexity of moving money between African countries have long been identified as major barriers to intra-African trade.

The system is operated by PAPSS, developed by Afreximbank in collaboration with African central banks and designed to support the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Financial analysts say the expansion of PAPSS through mainstream banking applications could be an important step towards solving one of the structural challenges facing intra-African commerce.

According to industry analysts, the real value of PAPSS is not simply that it provides another payment option but that it creates a mechanism through which African economies can transact more directly with one another.

“The infrastructure can reduce friction, but infrastructure alone does not automatically create trade. Businesses must trust the system, understand the pricing and be confident that payments will settle reliably,” the analyst said.

Another financial expert noted that making PAPSS available through familiar mobile and online banking platforms could significantly improve adoption because customers would not have to learn an entirely new payment ecosystem.

“The biggest advantage is convenience. If a customer can access PAPSS from an application already used for everyday banking, the barrier to adoption becomes much lower,” the expert said.

The analyst, however, cautioned that exchange-rate transparency, dispute resolution, transaction limits and regulatory compliance would remain important considerations for businesses.

In April 2025, the CBN directed banks operating in Nigeria to adopt PAPSS and commence originating transactions under the framework.

The directive was contained in a circular referenced TED/FEM/PUB/FPC/001/006 and issued on April 28, 2025.