The biggest banks in Nigeria raked in the sum of N57 billion from account maintenance charged on their customers’ accounts in the first half of this year, BusinessDay findings show.
The banks include First Bank, United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Access Bank, and Zenith Bank.
Zenith Bank, Access Bank, and GTCO recorded the highest income from account maintenance fees in the first half of 2022, followed by First Bank and United Bank for Africa.
Zenith Bank recorded N19.8 billion, Access Bank reported N12 billion, GTCO recorded N9.4 billion as account maintenance fees in the first half of 2022, while First Bank, N9.1 billion and United Bank for Africa, N6.6 billion.
Also, the total sum of fee and commission income for the tier-1 banks jumped 19 percent to N359 billion, hitting the highest in four years from N302 billion in the first half of 2021.
Nigeria’s biggest banks electronic banking income surged to N136.4 billion in the first half of 2022, up 17.6 percent from N115.9 billion in the first half of 2021.
Data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) has shown that transactions worth N32.8 trillion were performed electronically in September through the NIBSS Instant Payment platform (NIP).
The total value of transactions worth N271.56 trillion was performed electronically in nine months of 2022, up 26 percent compared to N215.76 trillion reported in nine months of 2021.
Firm by firm analysis
Zenith Bank
Zenith Bank recorded the highest account maintenance fee compared to its tier-1 peers. The bank recorded the sum of N19.8 billion as its account maintenance fee for the period ended June 2022, up 23.7 percent from N16 billion in June 2021.
Zenith Bank’s fee and commission income grew 35 percent to N64.4 billion in the first half of 2022 from N47.7 billion in the first half of 2021. The bank also saw a 44.7 percent increase in its electronic banking income to N24.6 billion in the first half of 2022, from N17.0 billion in the same period of 2021.
The bank’s gross earnings rose by 17 percent to N405 billion in the first half of 2022, from N346 billion reported in the first half of 2021. Zenith Bank’s profit after tax grew by 4.9 percent to N111.4 billion in the first half of this year from N106 billion in the first half of last year.
Zenith Bank Plc is one of the biggest financial service providers in Nigeria and West Africa. It was licensed as a commercial bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the national banking regulator.
Read also: PZ Cussons: Driving profit despite inflationary pressures
Access Bank
Access Bank ranked next with a sum of N12 billion as account maintenance fees, a 9 percent increase from N11 billion in the first half of last year. The bank’s fee and commission income increased to N81.1 billion in the first half of 2022, a 10.5 percent increase from N73.4 billion in the first half of 2021.
Access Bank recorded N39 billion as its electronic banking income in the first half of 2022, a 30 percent jump from N30billion in the same period of 2021. Gross earnings rose to N591.8 billion in the first half of 2022, up 31.4 percent from N450.3 billion in the first half of last year.
Access Bank’s profit after tax rose by just 2 percent to N88.7 billion in the first half of 2022, up from N86.8 billion in the same period of the prior year.
Access Bank is a Nigerian multinational commercial bank, owned by Access Bank Group. It was licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the national banking regulator. Originally a corporate bank, they expanded into personal and business banking in 2012
Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTco)
Guaranty Trust Holding Company ranked in third place with account maintenance fees at N9.4 billion in the first half of 2022, representing 20.5 percent increase over N7.8 billion made in the first half of 2021.
The bank’s fee and commission income grew to N46.5 billion in the first half of 2022, a 21.4 percent increase from N38.3 billion in the first half of 2021.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company’s electronic banking income rose to N11.0 billion, up 4.7 percent from N10.5 billion in the first half of 2021. The bank’s gross earnings stood at N239.3 billion in the period ended June 2022, up 15 percent from N208 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company recorded a profit after tax of N77.5 billion in the first half of this year, down 2 percent from N79.4 billion in the same period of last year.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company PLC also known as GTCO PLC is a multinational financial services group, that offers retail and investment banking, pension management, asset management, and payments services, headquartered in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. GTCO Plc was created in July 2021 following the corporate reorganization of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc into a holding company
First Bank
First Bank ranked fourth with account maintenance fees of N9.1 billion in the first half of 2022 compared with N8 billion realised in the comparable period of 2021.
The bank’s fee and commission income surged to N70.7 billion between January and June 2022, in contrast to N69.1 billion realised in the same period in 2021.
First Bank’s electronic banking income dropped by 11.4 percent to N25.5 billion in the first half of this year, down from N28.8 billion in the first half of last year.
Notwithstanding, its profit after tax climbed to N56.6 billion in the first half of 2022, a 48.5 percent increase from N38.1 billion in the first half of 2021.
First Bank of Nigeria Limited is a Nigerian multinational bank and financial services company in Lagos, Nigeria. It is the premier bank in West Africa.
UBA
United Bank for Africa(UBA) recorded N6.6 billion as account maintenance fees between January and June 2022, up from N5.4 billion in the first half of last year.
The bank’s fee and commission income increased to N96.4 billion from N74.1 billion during the same comparable periods.
UBA recorded N36.3 billion as electronic banking income in the first half of this year, a 22.6 percent increase from N29.6 billion in the same periods of 2021.
The tier-1 lender’s gross earnings hit N372.4billion in the six months ended June 2022, a 17.8 percent growth compared with N316 billion in the same period of last year.
The bank’s profit after tax jumped 16 percent to N70.3 billion from N60.6 billion for the period ending June 2021.
United Bank for Africa Plc is a multinational pan-African financial services group headquartered in Lagos and known as Africa’s Global Bank. It has subsidiaries in 20 African countries and offices in London, Paris and New York. In December 2021, UBA received its banking license to commence operations in the UAE.
