SOME of Nigeria’s largest commercial banks earned a combined N922.5 billion ($589 million) from net fees and commission charges in 2024, marking a 60 percent jump from the prior year despite rising public frustration over surging transaction costs and service failures.
The earnings, compiled from full-year financial statements of nine deposit money banks, rose from N576.1 billion in 2023, underscoring the sector’s growing reliance on non-interest income amid a volatile macroeconomic environment.
Zenith Bank led the cohort with N206.87 billion in net fee and commission income, an 89.3 percent increase from N109.31 billion in 2023. The bank attributed the growth to charges on electronic products, account servicing fees, foreign transactions, and loan syndication services, according to its financial statement.
Guaranty Trust Holding Co. followed closely, posting a 73.4 percent rise to N189.71 billion, while Stanbic IBTC recorded N170.39 billion — a 54.5 percent gain from the previous year.
Wema Bank registered the sharpest percentage increase among the nine lenders, with fee income more than doubling to N55.58 billion, up 122.7 percent from N24.96 billion in 2023. Fidelity Bank posted a 58 percent gain to N78.36 billion, while United Bank for Africa more than doubled its fee earnings to N62.17 billion.
First Bank Holdings Plc was the sole outlier, reporting a 5.8 percent year-on-year decline in net fees to N67.84 billion.
Sterling HoldCo recorded the lowest fee income at N32.41 billion, though it still represented a 24.1 percent increase. The bank recently said it would waive local transfer charges, citing customer protection concerns.
Customers, however, are pushing back. Social media platforms have become flooded with complaints over excessive deductions, failed transactions, and unclear billing.
“Nigerian banks are declaring trillion-naira profits in a shrinking economy that has some of the world’s poorest people—simply because they are overcharging bank users for baseless reasons,” said a British-Nigerian physician known online as OurFavOnlineDoc.
The backlash comes as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduces new withdrawal charges. Effective February 10, 2025, fees for interbank ATM withdrawals jumped from N35 to N100 per N20,000. The policy of three free interbank ATM withdrawals per month was also eliminated.
The CBN said the changes were part of broader reforms to align transaction costs with operational realities, according to a circular signed by John S. Onojah, acting director, Financial Policy and Regulation.
