Top 10 banks in Nigeria with highest account maintenance revenue in Q1 2022

Banks listed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange scooped a total of N36.04 billion from account maintenance charges in the first quarter of 2022. This is according to data extracted from the quarterly financial statements of listed commercial banks in the Nigerian stock market.

Zenith Bank, Access Bank and GTB led the list of banks in Nigeria with the highest income from current account maintenance in the period under review. The amount generated from account maintenance charges in Q1 2022, represents a 17.5% increase compared to N30.67 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, 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 the directive by the CBN on bank charges, Nigerian banks are allowed to charge their customers a “negotiable” N1 per mille.

What this means is that banks can charge N1 per N1000 debit transactions on current accounts. Banks’ account maintenance charges come in the form of COT (i.e., Commission on Turnover) which is a charge levied on customer withdrawals by their banks.

Below is a ranking of Nigerian commercial banks based on their account maintenance earnings in the first quarter of 2022.

#5: UBA – N3.92 billion
United Bank for Africa came fifth on the list with N3.92 billion revenue from account maintenance, which is 24.5% higher than N3.15 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.

The pan African bank’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.

#4: First Bank – N4.14 billion
First Bank of Nigeria saw its account maintenance income increase marginally by 2.2% from N4.05 billion generated in Q1 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.

First Bank’s profit after tax increased significantly by 107.7% year-on-year to N32.4 billion in Q1 2022 from N15.59 billion posted in the previous year.

#3: GT Bank – N5.17 billion
GT Bank 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.

However, its net profit dropped by 5.1% compared to N45.55 billion recorded as of the same period in the previous year to stand at N43.21 billion.

#2: Access Bank – N6.04 billion
Access Bank, the largest financial institution in the country by customer base and total asset value, with a total asset of N12.08 trillion, recorded a 16.2% year-on-year increase in its account maintenance income in Q1 2022 to stand at N6.04 billion from N5.2 billion.

In a similar fashion, the newly restructured bank grew its profit after tax to N57.39 billion from last year’s figure of N52.55 billion, representing a 9.2% year-on-year increase.

#1: Zenith Bank – N9.27 billion
Zenith Bank seats comfortably in top position 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.

Similarly, the tier-1 giant printed a year-on-year 9.7% increase in its profit after tax to N58.19 billion compared to N53.06 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021. In comparison to other listed banks, Zenith Bank recorded the highest net profit, representing 21% of the total N275.7 billion recorded by the industry in the period under review.