E-Financial
Zenith Bank, 6 Others Rake in N244Bn in Fees, Commissions
Some 7 deposit money banks (DMBs) have reportedly raked in a total of N244.15 billion as fees and commission income in the first six months of this year.
This is against the N208.38 billion that the lenders reported for the corresponding period of 2017.
Newtelegraph reported that generally, Nigerian banks derive their fees and commission income from account maintenance fees, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) charges, fees from other electronic banking channels, letters of credit commission, remittances fees, card-based fees, fees from brokerage commission and financial advisory fees, among others.
The seven lenders’ H1 2018 results reviewed by Newtelegraph were those of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), FBN Holdings (First Bank of Nigeria Limited), Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).
Others are mid-sized DMBs – Stanbic IBTC, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and Diamond Bank. Specifically, ETI’s H1 2018 results show that its net fees and commission income increased by 11.30 per cent to N67.12 billion in the period under review, from N60.3 billion in the comparative period of last year.
The pan-African lender was followed by Zenith Bank, which reported that its fees and commission income rose by 23.72 per cent in the first half of this year, to N46.71 billion, from N37.75 billion reported for the comparative period in 2017.
Stanbic IBTC recorded a 32.30 per cent increase in fees and commission income to N37.14 billion in the first half of 2018 from N28.807 billion it reported in the corresponding period of last year.
First Bank of Nigeria also reported growth in its fees and commission income for H1 2018 as the Tier 1 lender reportedly earned N35.05 billion for the period, which represents a 13.59 per cent increase over the N30.86 billion it posted for the comparative period last year.
Similarly, another Tier 1 bank, GTB, reported a 13.89 per cent increase in its fees and commission income for H1 2018 to N25.910 billion from N22.749 billion in the corresponding period of 2017.
FCMB and Diamond Bank also posted higher figures of fees and commission income for H1 2018 compared with what they reported last year.
However, while FCMB recorded a 37.47 per cent increase to N13.011 billion from N9.466 billion, Diamond Bank’s went up by N24 million to N19.208 billion from N19.184 billion in 2017.
Significantly, a review of these lenders’ 2017 full year results also show remarkable growth in their fees and commission income for last year compared with 2016.
Thus, ETI again recorded the highest fees and commission of N143.799 billion in 2017, up from the N124.759 billion it made the previous year. Zenith Bank posted fees and commission income of N90.143 billion in 2017 compared with the N68.444 billion the previous year.
FBN Holdings reported fees and commission income of N74.453 billion in 2017 higher than the N71.360 billion it recorded in 2016. Also, Stanbic IBTC reported net fees and commission of N59.089 billion in 2017, up from N52.154 billion the previous year; GTBank posted N42.922 billion as fees and commission income in 2017, up from the N39.403 billion it attained in 2016; FCMB reported fees and commission income of N21.630 billion, higher than N17.683 billion in 2016 while Diamond Bank earned N37.068 billion from fees and commission last year compared with the N41.432 billion it got the previous year. Interestingly, while DMBs are raking in billions in fees and commission income and using it to make up for the loss of revenue due to declining Treasury bill yields, the development is making bank customers very unhappy.
The bank customers accuse DMBs of frequently deducting illegal and excess charges from their accounts even when they (customers) never carried out such transactions. In fact, a bank fee that customers are particularly angry about is the reintroduced Commission on Turnover (CoT) fee now known as Current Account Maintenance (CAM) fee.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had, in 2013, commenced the phased reduction of CoT, which terminated with the zero CoT charge in 2016. But in a circular to banks that year, the apex bank replaced the CoT with CAM, but subject to a maximum of N1 per N1,000 mille. However, financial analysts point out that many bank customers usually do not thoroughly scrutinise their account statements, thus giving DMBs the opportunity to make illegal deductions from such accounts.
World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.
The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.
The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.
The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.
This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.
The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.
Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.
This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.
In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.
Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.
These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.
Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.
In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.
Ecobank, a pan-African financial services group, has partnered with Google Cloud in a deal to improve financial services with advanced analytics, AI and driving digital empowerment across Africa.
This collaboration will focus on leveraging Google Cloud’s advanced technologies and AI to enhance Ecobank’s digital offerings to accelerate the digital transformation of the Bank.
The partnership agreement is designed to empower individuals, support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region, and contribute to the overall economic development of Africa.
“Our collaboration with Google Cloud is a leap forward in Ecobank’s digital transformation journey. We look forward to leveraging Google Cloud’s world-class technology to unlock new possibilities for individuals and businesses to grow and scale across Africa,” said Jeremy Awori, group chief executive officer of Ecobank.
“This collaboration signifies our shared intent to explore building a more connected and financially inclusive future for the continent.”
Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud, stated that Google Cloud and Ecobank have a shared vision for using technology to help deliver financial empowerment to more people and businesses in Africa.
“We look forward to exploring the ways our cutting-edge AI, powerful data analytics, and scalable infrastructure can support Ecobank’s efforts to fuel the continent’s economic development and digital future.”
The collaboration aims to simplify and streamline money transfers, both domestically and across borders. By leveraging Google Cloud’s capabilities, including its powerful data analytics platform, BigQuery, for AI-driven insights, Ecobank will aim to develop solutions that improve access to finance for SMEs, simplify payment acceptance, and provide valuable data-driven insights to help businesses scale across more than 33 countries in Africa.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has announced the successful close of the N148.7 billion Rights Issue subscription exercise following the completion of the verification exercise by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and final clearance by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Stanbic IBTC Holdings said the Rights Issue was oversubscribed by 21.9 percent, adding that the holding company has injected N140 billion into Stanbic IBTC Bank.
Kunle Adedeji, acting Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc while commenting on the just concluded rights issue programme said that “The turnout and participation of existing shareholders taking up their rights was impressive such that the rights issue was oversubscribed by 21.9percent to the tune of N181.4 billion. Our shareholders’ interest shows the confidence they continue to have in the brand,” he said.
“We appreciate the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria, The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Lead Issuing house, Joint Issuing houses and other stakeholders in the successful completion of the recapitalisation exercise.
“We are optimistic about future opportunities, as the injection of new capital will position us to take advantage of them to enable us to deliver to our shareholders. To all shareholders, we are grateful for your unwavering belief and support for the Stanbic IBTC Brand and your willingness to continue this journey with us,” Adedeji said.
Having received an injection of N140 billion from the parent company, the Chief Executive of the Banking subsidiary, Wole Adeniyi, remarked that “the injection of the new capital into the banking subsidiary is a positive development. This will enable the Bank to seize additional opportunities within the industry and enhance our Single Obligor Limit (SOL).
“We deeply appreciate the dedication and hard work of our regulators, issuing houses, and all other stakeholders. We extend our sincere gratitude for your continued support.”
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