Q1’22: 10 banks earn N166.16 billion in fees and commissions
- Electronic payment transactions increase by 17.93% to 34.67 trillion naira
Ten depository banks in the country earned a total of N166.16 billion in fee and commission income in the first three months of this year, a 23.71 percent improvement from N134.31 billion. naira that lenders earned during the corresponding period of 2021, according to their unaudited results for the period ended March 31, 2022.
The 10 banks include four of the country’s five Tier 1 lenders – Access Bank, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and United Bank for Africa (UBA).
The others are Tier 2 lenders – Stanbic IBTC, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Fidelity Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank and Wema Bank.
Nigerian lenders derive their fee and commission income from account maintenance fees, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) fees, fees from other electronic banking channels, letter of credit fees, funds, card fees, brokerage fees and financial advisory fees, among others.
New Telegraph’s analysis of unaudited financial statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, released by the banks, shows Nigeria’s largest lender by assets, Access Bank, topped nine other banks for the amount derived from fees and commissions during the period, as its net fee commission income was N42.90 billion compared to N30.73 billion for the corresponding period of 2021.
It was followed by Zenith Bank which reported N33.49 billion as revenue net of fees and commissions in Q1 22 compared to N28.69 billion in the same period last year.
UBA also recorded growth in its net fee and commission income for the first quarter of 2022, as it earned N24.30 billion for the period, compared to N20.37 billion for the corresponding period of 2021. GTCO reported N18.76 billion as net fees and commissions. revenue in the first three months of this year compared to N14.61 billion the lender recorded for the equivalent period last year.
For Tier 2 lenders, Stanbic IBTC topped its peers as it reported the highest net fee and commission income of N21.71 billion in Q1 22 from N20.82 billion for the corresponding period of 2021.
It was followed by FCMB, which reported N7.62 billion in revenue net of fees and commissions in the first three months of this year, compared to N5.66 billion in the same period of 2021.
Similarly, Sterling Bank recorded N5.13 billion in revenue net of fees and commissions in the first quarter of 2022, compared to the N3.65 billion it recorded for the corresponding period last year. Fidelity Bank reported slightly higher net fee and commission income of N4.82 billion in Q1’22 compared to the N4.17 billion the lender earned in Q1’21.
Wema Bank reported net income of N4.05 billion in fees and commissions in the first three months of this year, compared to N2.56 billion for the corresponding period last year.
Similarly, Union Bank reported net fee and commission income of N3.38 billion in the first quarter of 2022, which is slightly higher than the N3.06 billion it earned in the first quarter of 2021. .
Analysts note that with the difficult economic climate negatively impacting the credit environment, coupled with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policies, which aim to force lenders to seek new business away from Treasury and federal government bonds, banks have increasingly turned in recent years to generate revenue from digital channels such as point-of-sale (POS) terminals, mobile apps, USSD channels and services online banking.