Customer deposits in top deposit money banks surged by 66 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) to N76.04 trillion by the end of December 2023, up from N45.81 trillion at the end of December 2022. Despite the country facing a rising inflationary trend and other economic challenges, this increase in customer deposits is significant.
The banks leading this surge include Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCo) Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and Wema Bank Plc. Sterling Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, and FCMB Group Plc are notable contributors to this growth.
Analyzing data from the bank’s financial statements for 2023, UBA recorded the highest growth of 90.3 percent, reaching N14.89 trillion compared to N7.83 trillion in 2022. Following closely, Zenith Bank Plc saw a 69 percent increase to N15.17 trillion from N8.98 trillion, while Access Bank achieved a 65.6 percent deposit growth to N15.32 trillion from N9.25 trillion in 2022. Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc ranked fourth with a 65.5 percent increase to N2.07 trillion from N1.25 trillion, and GTBank rounded up the top five with a 65.2 percent deposit growth to N7.41 trillion from N4.49 trillion in the corresponding period in 2022.
Wema Bank also experienced substantial growth, increasing customer deposits to N1.87 trillion from N1.67 trillion in the same period in 2022, representing a 60.2 percent increase. FCMB Group recorded a 58.9 percent increase to N3.09 trillion compared to N1.95 trillion in the corresponding period in 2022. Fidelity Bank Plc achieved a 55.5 percent deposit growth to N4.02 trillion from N2.58 trillion. FBN Holding Plc and Sterling Bank Plc grew their customer deposits by 52.6 percent to N10.87 trillion and 9.4 percent to N1.33 trillion, respectively.
David Adonri, Vice Chairman of Highcap Securities, attributed this growth to increased confidence in the banks, driven by the termination of cash scarcity, which positively impacted commerce. He also mentioned that deposits by sub-national governments contributed to the growth due to increased FAAC allocations. Additionally, financial transactions in the market flowed through banks, with the rally in the equities market and high yields in debt prompting investors to deposit in their bank accounts. Adonri suggested that with banking recapitalization on the horizon, a hike in interest rates, and more FAAC inflows, banks may continue to experience growth in deposit liabilities.
