Come January 1, 2026, all payments to Federal Government agencies must go fully digital—ending direct cash handling and paper receipts. The Federal Treasury eReceipt (FTeR) and the new Revenue Optimisation (RevOp) Platform will become the standard system. The Ministry of Finance announced the reform in Abuja on Monday, December 8, 2025, describing it as the biggest overhaul of government revenue collection in a decade.
According to the ministry, “As from January 1, 2026, the Federal Treasury eReceipt (FTeR) will become the only valid and legally recognised receipt for all federal government transactions.” The mandate applies to passports, driver’s licences, tax clearance, customs duties, court fees and all other payments to MDAs. Funds must now go straight into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) via approved channels such as bank transfers, POS, USSD, or online portals. While POS may still involve physical cash, MDAs are barred from handling, reconciling or banking it, effectively eliminating cash offices.
RevOp will link the TSA, GIFMIS, CBN, NIBSS, FIRS and all MDAs on a unified dashboard to track payments in real time. The ministry said, “TSA, GIFMIS, CBN, NIBSS, FIRS, and MDAs will now speak to each other in a unified digital environment through RevOp.” The platform will also issue alerts for discrepancies and block attempts to use unapproved payment channels.
The reform targets long-standing leakages, including fake receipts, unauthorised deductions and diverted service charges. As the ministry noted, “By outlawing unauthorised deductions, commissions, or charges taken before remittance to the TSA, the government expects to eliminate substantial leakages that currently occur within MDAs using unapproved PSSP platforms.”
Finance Minister Wale Edun’s team frames the directive as central to President Tinubu’s anti-corruption and transparency agenda—reducing human contact, closing cash-handling loopholes and enforcing a digital audit trail. Compliance is mandatory for citizens, businesses, banks and payment service providers. Banks must route all government payments through RevOp, and any MDA collecting cash after December 31, 2025, will be violating the law.
Though the ministry acknowledges challenges such as network issues in remote areas and the need for quick adaptation, it calls the reform an “iron-clad, system-wide overhaul.” While not Nigeria’s first cashless effort—after earlier CBN initiatives in 2012 and 2020—it is the most extensive federal mandate yet, and the ministry describes it as “a critical milestone in Nigeria’s anti-corruption and fiscal transparency agenda” and the “biggest consolidation of Nigeria’s digital public finance infrastructure in a decade.”
From January 1, 2026, citizens paying for federal services must come prepared with debit cards, phones or online banking access. The key instruction remains: always request and verify the official Federal Treasury eReceipt (FTeR).