Money transacted through Malawi’s National Payments System fell by 28.4 percent to K52 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, from K72.7 trillion recorded in the previous quarter.

A latest report by the Reserve Bank of Malawi shows that the decline was accompanied by a 9.2 percent drop in the number of transactions, from 696.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 631.8 million between January and March 2026.

The Reserve Bank attributes the slowdown largely to seasonal factors that typically affect the uptake of digital financial services during the first half of the year.

Despite the quarterly decline, transaction volumes increased by 6 percent year-on-year, although the overall value of transactions fell by 28.7 percent compared to the first quarter of 2025.

The report says the Malawi Interbank Transfer and Settlement System—MITASS—remained the backbone of the country’s payment infrastructure, processing transactions worth K27.2 trillion during the quarter.

Meanwhile, digital financial services recorded a 9.3 percent decline in transaction volumes, although the value increased slightly by 0.6 percent to K18 trillion.