Fee and commission income of five deposit money banks (DMBs), quoted on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), rose by 38.62 per cent, or N68.42 billion, to N245.58 billion in the first six months of 2025, compared with the N177.17 billion they realised in the corresponding period of last year, H1’25 results released by the lenders show.
The five DMBs are First HoldCo Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, Wema Bank Plc and Jaiz Bank Plc. Nigerian lenders derive their fee and commission income from account maintenance charges, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) charges, fees from other electronic banking channels, letters of credit commission, remittances fees, card-based fees, fees from brokerage commission and financial advisory fees, among others.
New Telegraph’s analysis of the five lenders’ unaudited Half Year (H1) financial results for the period ended June 30, 2025, recently presented to the NGX, indicates that with exchange rate stability reducing their gains from foreign exchange revaluation, coupled with reduced lending, occasioned by the high interest rate environment, Nigerian DMBs are generally seeing their bottom lines increasingly being boosted by fee and commission-based income.
Specifically, the published results show that Wema Bank’s net fee and commission income in the first six months of this year surged by 91.54 per cent, or N21.69 billion, to N45.38 billion from N23.69 billion in the corresponding period of 2024.
Also, Sterling Financial Holdings Company’s net fee and commission income in H1’ 25 rose by 44.99 per cent, or N6.85 billion, to N22.07 billion compared with the N15.22 billion that the lender reported for the corresponding period of last year.
Similarly, FCMB reported a net fee and commission income of N37. 91 billion in the first six months of this year which represents a 51.29 percent increase (N12.85 billion) when compared with the N25.06 billion that the Tier 2 bank earned in H1’24. At N138.70 billion, First HoldCo’s H1’25 net fee and commission income rose by 25.14 per cent, or N27.86 billion, compared with the N110.84 billion that the Tier 1 lender reported for the corresponding period of last year.
However, compared with N2.36 billion in H1’24, noninterest lender, Jaiz Bank Plc’s net fee and commission income fell by 35.30 per cent, or N834.37 million, to N1.53 billion in the first six months of this year.
Analysts note that like their counterparts in other parts of the world, Nigerian lenders are leveraging the global shift away from cash towards digital transactions to generate revenue from electronic banking charges and fees, thereby diversifying their income streams.
