The Central Bank of Nicaragua published its Payments Systems and Services in Nicaragua report for the third quarter of 2025, highlighting year-on-year growth in both the volume and value of transactions processed through the country’s payment systems, alongside higher cash in circulation and increased use of payment instruments and payment infrastructure. Across the Interbank Nicaraguan System of Electronic Payments (SINPE), the regional Payment Interconnection System (SIPA), and the Automated Clearing House operated by ACH de Nicaragua S.A. (UNIRED), 3.3 million transactions with a total value of NIO 724,855.6 million were processed in Q3 2025, up 61.1% in volume and 29.3% in value from Q3 2024. SINPE transactions totalled NIO 569,879.1 million (up 28.6% year on year), with the electronic funds transfer (TEF) service accounting for 56.6% of SINPE value; UNIRED processed NIO 153,814.3 million across 2,746,521 transactions (up 31.5% in value and 88.8% in number of operations); SIPA totalled NIO 1,162.2 million across 2,909 transfers (up 53.3% in value and 39.1% in volume). The report also records 72.5 million payment-instrument operations worth NIO 1.3 trillion (up 19.6% in number and 13.5% in value), with 3.5 million payment cards in circulation (up 16.8%), 479,298 electronic money accounts (up 31.9%) and 950,694 digital wallet users (up 28.5%); debit cards were the most used instrument with 32.7 million transactions (up 14.2%), and intrabank transfers represented 63.7% of total value transacted. Cash in circulation reached NIO 57,225.9 million (up 16.6%), while payment channels handled 83.0 million operations worth NIO 1.6 trillion (up 18.0% in volume and 22.8% in value), with in-person channel value down 2.3% despite 14.9% higher volumes and non-presential channels up 28.6% in value and 25.0% in volume.
Central Bank of Nicaragua 2025-11-17
Central Bank of Nicaragua publishes Q3 2025 payments systems report showing 61.1% rise in transaction volumes
The Central Bank of Nicaragua's Q3 2025 report highlights significant growth in payment systems, with a 61.1% increase in transaction volume and a 29.3% rise in value year-on-year. Key systems like SINPE, UNIRED, and SIPA showed notable increases, with SINPE processing NIO 569,879.1 million and UNIRED handling 2.7 million transactions. The report also notes a rise in payment instruments, electronic money accounts, and digital wallet users, alongside more cash circulation.