Cowry Card has processed over 19 million trips within Lagos State’s regulated transport ecosystem since January 2026. This is as disclosed by Olamide Afolabi, Managing Director of Touch and Pay Technologies, which operates the Cowry Card infrastructure today, during a LAMATA X Space session.
The session sought to address public concerns ahead of what is being described as the strictest enforcement of Lagos’ cashless transit policy to date. The state is set to start prosecuting commuters who pay in cash for BRT and rail services beginning August 1.
The 19 million figure is significant. It tells you that the system is not theoretical. Millions of Lagosians are already using it every day. The August 1 directive does not introduce a new technology, it makes an existing one mandatory and removes the option of paying cash entirely.
Under the new directive, commuters who attempt to pay cash on the BRT, Bus Reform Initiative, and Lagos Rail Mass Transit services will face possible arrest and prosecution. Until now, enforcement targeted operators and ticketing staff who collected cash outside the approved system.
That will change in four days.
Read back story: Lagos to prosecute BRT, train commuters paying cash from August 1
What Cowry Card users need to know and why drivers are also at risk
A common concern among commuters is that agents might manipulate top-ups or cause confusion at terminals to get extra money from desperate users.
Afolabi explained that there is a simple way to avoid this. Commuters can top up their Cowry Cards directly using the app or at self-service terminals without needing an agent.
This option has always been available, and the enforcement deadline is now a good reason to start using it.
On the driver side, the consequences are equally serious. Adekunle Tajudeen, Managing Director of Teejay Motors, one of the BRT operators, was direct: it is a criminal offence for a driver, referred to in the system as a “captain”, to allow cash payments or to pocket fares. Captains have been formally notified and will be arrested if they devise ways to pocket funds from passengers.
Tajudeen cited a recent incident that illustrated the risk. A driver in Oshodi carried a full bus of passengers and collected fares into his personal bank account instead of routing payments through the approved system. That driver is currently on the run.
The enforcement, in other words, is not just pointed at commuters. It is pointed at everyone in the payment chain, and LAMATA has made clear it intends to follow through.
For commuters in Lagos who have been paying cash out of habit, convenience, or because no one stopped them, the window to sort out a Cowry Card is now extremely short. Cards can be obtained and topped up at BRT terminals, select agent locations, self-service kiosks, or directly through the app.
LAMATA has not announced a grace period yet.
Also read: Nigerian fintech TAP’s Cowry cards to be used for new Lagos Blue Rail line
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