Ten Nigerian Banks earned a total of N36 billion from account maintenance charges in the first three months of 2022. This facts are available in the banks financial filings with the Nigeria Exchange limited. Zenith Bank tops the list having generated a sum of N9.27 billion from account maintenance, representing 25.7% of the total income by the 12 banks. Zenith Bank increased its account maintenance income by 17.6% compared to N7.88 billion that was made in Q1 2021. Access Bank – N6.04 billion. Access Bank followed closely with increase in its account maintenance income in first three months of 2022 to stand at N6.04 billion from N5.2 billion the previous year.
GT Bank came third as it generated a sum of N5.17 billion from account maintenance income between January and March 2022. This represents a 23.8% increase compared to N4.18 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021. Fourth in the league of ten is First Bank of Nigeria which saw its account maintenance income increased marginally by 2.2% from N4.05 billion generated in the first quarter of the year 2021 to N4.14 billion in the same period of 2022. It accounted for 11.5% of the total account maintenance income of the industry.
The fifth in this category is United Bank for Africa with N3.92 billion revenue from account maintenance, which is 24.5% higher than N3.15 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021. UBA’s account maintenance income accounts for 10.9% of the total N36.04 billion recorded by the 12 banks under consideration. In terms of the bottom line, UBA grew its profit after tax by 8.8% year-on-year to N41.49 billion in the review period. Unity Bank came 6th with N1.67 billion while FCMB with N1.53 billion came 7th, Fidelity Bank’s N1.23 billion placed it 8th while Stanbic IBTC recorded N927 million to take the 9th position. Sterling Bank however was 10th with N911 million.
According to theCentral Bank of Nigeria tariff charge regulation, the account maintenance fee are charged on current accounts only in respect of customer-induced debit transactions to third parties and debit transfers/lodgements to the customer’s account in another bank. Banks’ earnings from account maintenance charges, though low when compared to other revenue streams, still make up a significant portion of their non-interest income. According to CBN tariff guide on bank charges, Nigerian banks are allowed to charge their customers a “negotiable” N1 per N1000.
