In 2023, ten Nigerian Banks recorded a profit worth N438bn from their digital banking channels. The annual report showed a 37.54 per cent increase compared to the N318.64bn derived the previous year. E-business income includes revenue from electronic channels, card products, and related services.
The channels the revenue was generated from include mobile applications, USSD channels, automated teller machines, agency banking, internet banking, point of sale payments, and credit and debit card transactions.
The increase in the use of mobile phones for e-transactions has boosted the income drive of electronic business income. The financial institution’s annual report that recorded high e-transaction revenue includes FBN Holdings, Access Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Zenith Bank, Wema Bank, Fidelity Bank, FCMB Group, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Sterling Financial Holdings Company, and United Bank of Africa leading other banks with N125.58bn compared to N78.94bn in 2022.
Also, the banking group’s IT support expenses increased by 148 per cent, from N9.32bn to N23.19bn in the previous year. FBN Holdings recorded a N66.34bn gain from its electronic business, which was higher than N55.09bn last year.
In a statement attached to the annual report, Bathe Bank said, “The underlying drivers of fees and commission were led by electronic banking fees (20.4 percent) to N66.3bn billion, Letters of credit commission and fees (278.4 percent) to N60.6bn, Account maintenance fees (12.3 percent) to N22.3bn, and funds transfer and intermediation fees (204.9 percent) to N20.6bn.
Meanwhile, the newly released Gross Domestic Product indicated that the financial services (finance and Insurance) continued increasing their GDP contribution over the quarters.
Speaking with the Managing Director/Chief Economist at ADSR, Dr Afolabi Olowookere, he said, “The sector is growing; hence, its contribution to the GDP will also grow. After COVID-19, the financial sector and ICT have been growing because people do a lot of transactions online.”
