Merchant Payments Observatory
Who's Really Going Cashless? We Asked the Merchants.
Most payment data tracks what happens at the centre of the system. MPO tracks the edges — the micro-enterprises, market stalls, and kiosks where cash still dominates and digital payment products succeed or fail in practice. We survey the full merchant population: adopters and hold-outs alike.
Markets
Active research programmes
Ethiopia
Wave 1 published — April 2026
Nationally representative survey of ~2,700 merchants weighted to represent ~500,000 enterprises. Covers adoption, barriers, provider dynamics, and the economics of merchant payments.
Nigeria
Data collection underway
The MPO is expanding to Nigeria — one of Africa's largest and most dynamic merchant payments markets. Baseline findings and reports coming in 2026.