Eight banks made N224.69bn from electronic banking fees as cashless transactions rose to N395.47tn in 2022.
Data analysed from the financial reports of the banks showed that they grew their e-banking income by 9.26 per cent year-on-year from N205.64bn in 2021 to N224.69bn in 2022.
This is happening as more Nigerians continue to adopt electronic forms of payment with total cashless transactions rising by 42.05 per cent y-o-y in 2022.
The banks are Access Holdings Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company and Subsidiary Companies, and Jaiz Bank Plc.
UBA’s e-banking income of N78.95bn was the highest amongst the banks, with Jaiz Bank (N530.26m) making the least. According to UBA, its electronic banking income “represents income taken on transactions processed via electronic channels such as ATM, POS, mobile banking as well as credit and debit card transactions.”
In 2022, UBA grew its e-banking income by 22.22 per cent to N78.95bn from N64.59bn in 2021; Union Bank’s income fell by 10.18 per cent to N7.97bn from N8.87bn; Zenith’s income grew by 22.07 per cent to N45.74bn from N37.47bn; GTCO’s income grew by 10.05 per cent to N23.20bn from N21.08bn; Stanbic’s income fell by 31.95 per cent to N2.51bn from N3.69bn.
Despite having the lowest e-banking income, Jaiz Bank recorded the most significant growth, with e-banking income growing by 168.14 per cent to N530.26m from N197.76m; Access’s e-banking income fell by 9.99 per cent to N59.65bn from N66.28bn; Wema grew its electronic channel income by 77.81 per cent to N6.14bn from N3.45bn.
The growth in electronic banking revenues can be tied to the increased adoption of electronic payment channels in the country because of the COVID-19 pandemic and improving mobile network coverage.
The e-banking incomes of banks are expected to grow in 2023 as more people adopt electronic banking channels for their transactions, and with the Central Bank of Nigeria push for cashless transactions.
Since the CBN announced its now postponed naira redesign policy, cashless transactions have grown tremendously in the country, with its total value growing by 44.84 per cent to N126.73tn in the first quarter of 2023. However, this growth in usage, which might lead to increased income for banks, has also exposed the frailty of the country’s electronic banking infrastructure.
Failed electronic transactions and downtimes have now become commonplace, negatively impacting the e-banking experience of customers.
Recently, a tier-one bank suffered a downtime that lasted for almost a day and ended up frustrating the payment efforts of its customers.
Recently, the Group Managing Director of Routelink Group, Femi Adeoti, told The PUNCH, “However, while the populace is ready to adopt these solutions, we realised that Nigeria’s current banking and digital payment infrastructure is inadequate to cater to the expected growth in the volume of digital/electronic-based transactions.”
