In 2023, digital banking channels brought in roughly N438bn for 10 financial institutions, an analysis of their annual reports has shown.
An analysis of the annual report has shown that in 2023, Digital Banking channels generated around N438 billion for 10 banks, according to The Punch.
The banking group saw an increase of 37.54 per cent in its profit from electronic transactions over the previous year, amounting to N318.64bn.
E-business income includes revenue from electronic channels, card products, and related services.
The growing popularity of online banking services and mobile phones in Nigeria has led to an increase in e electronic business revenue.
FBN Holding, Access Holdings, Guaranty Trust Group, United Bank for Africa, Zenith Bank, Wema Bank, Fidelity Bank, FCMB Group, Stanbic IBTC, and Sterling Banks are some of the banks whose annual reports were reviewed.
UBA, which generated N125.58 billion in electronic banking compared to N78.94 billion in 2022, led other banks in revenues.
Access Holdings generated N101.62bn in revenue from its electronic business; which is about 70.34 per cent higher, when compared to the income from electronic business in 2022.
According to just-released audited statements of FBN Holdings, N66.34bn was realized from its electronic business higher than N55.09bn in the previous year.
In the statement, the bank said the main driver of the growth of its fees and commissions is electronic banking fees.
“The underlying drivers of fees and commission were led by electronic banking fees (20.4 per cent) to N66.3bn billion, Letters of credit commission and fees (278.4 per cent) to N60.6bn, Account maintenance fees (12.3 per cent) to N22.3bn and funds transfer and intermediation fees (204.9 per cent) to N20.6bn.
“Customer acquisition drive has also been enhanced through a growing adoption across digital platforms and greater penetration of the unbanked segments through the agency banking network, further boosting financial inclusion drive.”
Similarly, Zenith Bank recorded a revenue from electronic banking fees of N51.82 billion in 2023, which is 13.29 per cent higher than the previous year’s revenues of 45.74 billion. During this period, the bank spent N33.59 billion on IT compared to 30.97 billion in 2022, an increase of 8.48 per cent.
For GTCO, the income from electronic business went up to N40.83bn from N37.74bn in the prior year, and its communications, administrative, and technological-related expenses increased to N50.24bn from N42.39bn.
FCMB in 2023 recorded N17.69bn as revenue from electronic fees and commission, higher than N13.99bn in the previous year.
Fidelity Bank saw its earnings from e-business rise by about 20.30 per cent to N14.03bn from N11.66bn in 2022.
Last year, Sterling HoldCo recorded N8.588 billion in eBusiness commission and fees up from N7.16 billion for 2022.
Meanwhile, The Managing Director/Chief Economist at ADSR, Dr Afolabi Olowookere, 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.”
