Business
Seven Banks Rake In N403.6bn From Fees, Commissions
Seven deposit money banks in Nigeria generated the sum of N403.6 billion in nine months from fees and commissions, financial statements of the banks for the third quarter of this year have revealed.
This amount is 24.7 per cent higher than the N303.9 billion recorded in the same period of 2020 by the banks.
The banks are Access Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, United Bank of Africa Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.
The N403.6bn was arrived at after aggregating the net fee and commission income.
Fees and commissions account for a significant percentage of non-interest income for banks, and represent income from account maintenance fees, electronic banking fees, and other credit-related commissions.
Net fee and commission income is the actual revenue generated from these charges after expenses incurred from providing the services have been deducted.
Access Bank raked in a total of N88.9 billion as against N71.8 billion generated during the same period in 2020.
The bank’s financial report also showed that it made N16.2 billion from account maintenance and handling commission, and the sum of N46.3 billion from channels and other e-business fees.
During the review period, Zenith Bank made N65.1 billion from fees and commissions, 47.2 per cent higher than the N44.2 billion generated in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The bank made N24.2 billion from current account maintenance and N23.9 billion from fees on electronic products.
UBA generated N110.9 billion, N25.9 billion higher than the N85bn made in the nine-month period of 2020. It made N7.1 billion from account maintenance charges and N41.9bn from e-business fees.
Stanbic’s net fee and commission revenue of N60.9 billion rose by 13.1 per cent from the N52.9 billion generated in the corresponding period of 2020.
Account maintenance fees accounted for N3.7 billion while electronic banking charges accounted for N2.5 billion of the total fees and commission income.
According to the financial statement of GTB, N51.8 billion was generated between January and September from fees and commissions, a N19.1billion jump from the revenue recorded in the same period of 2020.
The bank disclosed that the sum of N13.1 billion was generated from account maintenance fees while e-business fees produced N15.6 billion.
Union Bank raked in N10.3 billion from fees and commission in the period under review. Account maintenance fees accounted for N1.7 billion while electronic bank charges contributed N6.7 billion.
Fidelity Bank generated a total of N15.7 billion in the three quarters, rising by N5.6 billion in the same period a year earlier.
The bank made N2.8 billion from accountant maintenance fees and N6.7 billion from e-business fees.
On January 1, 2020, the apex bank ushered in a new regime for bank charges. The changes to its guidelines mostly affected things like card maintenance fees, charge for hardware tokens and the amount that can be paid for electronic transfers.
In a circular dated December 20, 2019, the CBN placed N2,500 as the maximum cost for a hardware token.
It also said that bills payment including bills payment through other e-channels should cost a maximum of N500, and gave a range of costs for electronic funds transfer.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.