E-Banking Boom: 8 Nigerian Banks Pocket N165.27 Billion in Q1 2025

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Eight major Nigerian banks, including Zenith, Access, and UBA, have reported a combined electronic banking income of N165.27 billion in the first quarter of 2025, representing a 22.3% increase from N135.08 billion in Q1 2024. The banks, which include Access Holdings Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Zenith Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and GTCO Plc, attributed the growth to increased transactions across various platforms, including Point of Sales (PoS), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Automated Teller Machine (ATM), and Internet banking.

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Investment banker and stockbroker Tajudeen Olayinka noted, “Banks gain traction on income from these lines as they extend retail and loan offerings. These banks witnessed increased transactions in Q1 2025, and it is expected to impact their fees and commissions.”

The growth comes amid increasing competition from fintech firms, which offer zero charges on cash deposits and fund transfers. Access Holdings reported N48.35 billion in e-banking income, a 44.8% increase from N33.4 billion in Q1 2024. UBA earned N47.8 billion, rising nearly 8% from N44.4 billion, while GTCO recorded N17.06 billion, up 51% from N11.3 billion

However, Zenith Bank’s e-banking income declined by 19% to N16.17 billion from N19.97 billion, while FCMB Group posted a 26% decrease to N3.8 billion from N5.09 billion. Wema Bank saw a significant increase of 259.9% in e-banking income to N10.85 billion, up from N3.02 billion.

The banks also reported a combined N643.9 billion in fees and commission income in Q1 2025, a 31% increase from N491.72 billion in Q1 2024. They generated N73.92 billion from current account maintenance fees, a 14.4% rise from N64.64 billion, following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s reintroduction of a negotiable Current Account Maintenance (CAM) fee.

The CBN circular stated, “The revised guide to bank charges, which came into effect on April 1, 2013, provides for a phased elimination of the COT charges in the Nigerian banking industry… In the interest of the stability of the banking system, a negotiable current account maintenance fee not exceeding N1 per mille may be charged in respect of all customer-induced debit transactions.”

Financial market analysts noted that some banks lacked alternative strategies to generate fees and commissions, leading to increased charges on customers, and criticised the CBN’s limited enforcement actions against banks for high fees. The growing pressure from fintechs offering cheaper digital financial services is prompting banks to innovate and diversify their income sources

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