Popularity of financial products or services in Nigeria 2024
As of January 2024, about 45 percent of the Nigerian population aged 15 years and older reported having an account with a financial institution, while 8.7 percent used mobile money accounts. The percentage of individuals owning a credit card was much lower, at approximately 1.6 percent. Overall, the presence of financial institutions across the country has boosted the use of financial services among the population.
Banks in the lead
As of 2023, Zenith Bank and Access Bank were the main banking service providers in Nigeria in terms of total assets and tier-one capital. The latter comprises capital, reserves, retained income, and minority interests. In the said year, Access Bank registered total assets reaching over 33.4 billion U.S. dollars, while tier-one capital for Zenith Bank amounted to around 2.6 billion U.S. dollars. Other leading banks in Nigeria include United Bank of Africa and Guaranty Trust Bank, as, together with the aforementioned banks, they report some of the highest total net profits in the country.
Employment in banking grows minimally
Since the first quarter of 2018, employment in Nigeria's banking sector has generally been decreasing. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the growth rate of bank employees in the country declined by 0.9 percent, compared to an increase of about 13.7 percent in the second quarter of 2018. Specifically, contract and junior staff count some of Nigeria’s highest numbers of bank employees. As of the fourth quarter of 2020, there were more than 39.7 thousand contract workers and 36.5 thousand junior staff in the sector. Overall, banking accounts for over 95,000 of the nation's employee base, a relatively low share of less than 0.2 percent.
