Tag: Banks

Banking

Banks must move from financing govt to businesses, infrastructure — Tinubu

Banks were on Tuesday urged to move away from heavy reliance on government securities and channel more credit into businesses, infrastructure and other productive sectors. The Federal Government, which canvassed the shift, said that recapitalisation of the banking industry and increased lending to businesses would help turn recent economic stability into stronger private-sector growth. President […]

Banking featured

Six Nigerian banks rank among Africa’s 20 biggest lenders

Six Nigerian banks have made the list of Africa’s 20 largest lenders by total assets, underscoring the growing scale of the country’s banking industry following a major recapitalisation drive. Access Bank leads the Nigerian lenders with assets of $36 billion, ranking 12th on the continent. United Bank for Africa follows with $33.27 billion, Zenith Bank […]

Banking

Banks filed 42,082 suspicious transaction reports to NFIU in 2025

Banks, fintech operators and other reporting entities submitted 42,082 Suspicious Transaction Reports to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit in 2025, as financial institutions stepped up compliance with anti-money laundering regulations amid tighter regulatory oversight. The disclosures were contained in the NFIU’s 2025 Annual Report, which also showed that the agency received 41,716,214 Currency Transaction Reports […]

Banking

Bank customers’ complaints rise 11% as CBN orders ₦19.12bn refund

Bank customers filed more complaints against financial institutions in 2025, prompting the Central Bank of Nigeria to order significant refunds to affected consumers. Bank customers lodged 23,129 complaints against financial institutions in 2025, representing 11 per cent increase over the previous year, prompting the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to order refunds totaling N19.12 billion […]

Banking

Cash outside banks drop to ₦4.92trn, lowest in months

The amount of cash held outside Nigeria’s banking system declined to N4.92 trillion in June 2026, the lowest level in seven months. This is according to the latest Money and Credit Statistics released by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The latest figure marks a significant retreat from the elevated cash levels recorded at the end […]

Banking featured

Banks cut lending to oil, gas, ICT by ₦5.45trn

Deposit Money Banks slashed lending to oil and gas, information and communication technology and six other key sectors of the economy by N5.45 trillion or 14.8 per cent, year-on-year in 2025. This reflects the impact of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s withdrawal of regulatory forbearance and banks’ loan portfolio clean-up. Regulatory forbearance is a central […]

Banking

Banks lose ₦134.48bn to fraud within five years — Report

Banks and their customers lost a combined N134.48bn to fraud between 2020 and 2025 amid a significant expansion in digital payments and financial technology adoption across the country, according to data contained in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028 document. The document, obtained by The PUNCH from the apex bank’s website, […]

Policy and Regulations

CBN orders banks, fintechs to store data locally

The Central Bank of Nigeria has directed banks, fintech firms, mobile money operators and other payment service providers to store all payment transaction data generated within Nigeria on local servers, as part of a broader regulatory push to strengthen oversight, improve transparency and reduce concentration risks in the country’s fast-growing digital payments ecosystem. The directive […]

Banking

ATM, e-banking charges push banks’ earnings to N224.69bn

Nigerian banks earned N224.69bn from electronic banking services and ATM/card-related charges in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 12.56 per cent increase from N199.61bn recorded in the same period of 2025, according to an analysis of the unaudited financial results of 11 listed lenders. The growth reflects the continued expansion of digital banking and […]

Banking featured

Banks earn ₦209bn from account maintenance charges

Nigerian banks generated a combined N209.18bn from account maintenance charges in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 14.07 per cent increase from the N183.37bn recorded during the corresponding period of 2025, according to an analysis of the unaudited financial statements of 11 listed lenders. The PUNCH reported that the review further revealed that total […]

Banking featured

Banks lose trillions yearly to CBN’s high CRR policy — Report

Nigeria’s banking sector may be losing trillions of naira annually due to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s high Cash Reserve Ratio, according to a new report by investment banking and research firm Chapel Hill Denham. The report titled “The Nigerian Banking Paradox: High Returns, Deep Discounts” argued that despite Nigerian banks posting some of the […]

Banking featured

FUGAZ banks report ₦2.365trn bad loans in 2025

Five listed Nigerian Tier-1 banks, also known as FUGAZ have released their full-year audited 2025 results for the period ended December 2025, reporting a combined impairment charges on loans to customers of N2.365 trillion compared to N1.44 trillion booked in 2024, according to Nairametrics. This represents a 64 per cent YoY growth and marks the […]