Zenith Leads, Access Bank Follows: 10 Banks Generate Over N125bn in Revenue From Account Maintenance Charges

• Ten banks in Nigeria have collectively generated over N125 billion in revenue from account maintenance charges in 2022
• Zenith Bank emerged as the leading bank, generating N41.6 billion in revenue, followed by Access Bank
• Account maintenance fees are charges imposed by banks on their customers to cover the cost of maintaining their accounts

Ten commercial banks generated N125.9 billion from maintaining customers' accounts in 2022.

This represents a 23.56% increase compared to the N101.93 billion reported in the full year of 2021.

The figures are from the banks' audited financials submitted to the Nigerian exchange.

Account maintenance fees

According to the CBN, banks are allowed to charge N1 per mile. This means that banks can charge N1 per N1,000 debit transaction on current accounts only.

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Banks’ account maintenance charges come in the form of COT (i.e., Commission on Turnover), a charge levied on customer withdrawals by their banks.

CBN directive reads:

“Current Account Maintenance Fee (CAMF): Applicable to current accounts ONLY in respect of customer-induced debit transactions to third parties and debit transfers/lodgments to the customer’s account in another bank. Note that CAMF is not applicable to Savings Accounts."

10 banks account maintenance fee

The ten banks surveyed include Access Bank, Fidelity Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Union Bank of Nigeria, United Bank for Africa, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank.

Legit.ng analysis showed that all the banks experienced increased account maintenance revenue in 2022. This increase can be attributed to the growth in the customer base.

Breakdown of account maintenance by banks

Zenith Bank had the highest account maintenance revenue in 2022, generating N41.6 billion, a significant increase from the N31.4 billion generated in 2021.

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UBA had the second-highest account maintenance revenue, generating N15.0 billion in 2022, an increase from the N11.4 billion generated in 2021.

GTB had the third-highest account maintenance revenue, generating N19.3 billion in 2022, an increase from the N16.7 billion generated in 2021.

Here is a breakdown of banks account maintenance revenue in 2022

• Zenith: N41.56bn (2022), N31.39bn (2021)
• Access: N25.56bn (2022), N22.21bn (2021)
• UBA: N15.01bn (2022), N11.44bn (2021)
• GTB: N19.35bn (2022), N16.68bn (2021)
• FCMB: N6.85bn (2022), N4.80bn (2021)
• Stanbic: N5.45bn (2022), N5.09bn (2021)
• FIDELITY: N5.04bn (2022), N4.15bn (2021)
• WEMA: N2.75bn (2022), N2.10bn (2021)
• Union: N2.84bn (2022), N2.41bn (2021)
• Unity: N1.54bn (2022), N1.66bn (2021)

List of 45 failed banks in Nigeria and dates of closure

In another report, Legit.ng revealed that in the last 28 years, approximately 46 commercial and merchant banks have closed down for various reasons.

The banks had their licenses revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria between 1994 and 2006.

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United Bank of Africa and Ecobank took control of the failed commercial banks.

Source: Legit.ng