Four of Nigeria’s biggest commercial banks – Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Access Bank, and First Bank of Nigeria – processed electronic transactions valued at about N570.17 trillion in 2025, underscoring the continued dominance of traditional banks in Nigeria’s rapidly evolving digital payments ecosystem.
The massive transaction volume comes despite rising competition from fintech companies, digital wallets, mobile money operators, and payment startups that have aggressively expanded across the country’s financial services landscape.
Analysis of the banks’ audited financial statements showed that electronic banking channels remained a major driver of transaction growth, customer engagement, and non-interest income generation.
These four banks in 2025 saw a robust value flow across digital channels such as Points of Sales (PoS), Mobile Banking, Automated Teller Machine (ATM), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), agency banking, among others.
Out of the N570.17 trillion, N468.94 billion came from electronic banking income, a 4.2 per cent increase over N449.94 billion reported in 2024.
Report shows Zenith Bank, followed by UBA led in the banking sector’s electronic transactions in the 2025 financial year.
Zenith Bank generated N225.28 trillion from its electronic transactions, about 32.4 per cent increase over N170.19 trillion in 2024, while UBA generated N169.6 trillion from electronic transactions, up by 12 per cent from N151.6 trillion in 2024.
With an estimated 36.7 million number of customers and 30.3 number of cards issued in 2025, Zenith Bank saw its Mobile Banking and internet banking grow significantly.
For instance, its mobile banking transactions closed 2025 at N104.14 trillion, which is 81.6 per cent growth when compared to N57.4 trillion reported in 2024, while Internet Banking moved from N47.2 trillion in 2024, a growth of 49.4 per cent to N70.52 trillion.
Zenith Bank over the years has deepened digital adoption, leveraging cutting-edge technology to drive scale and efficiency.
In the same vein, UBA saw a significant increase in its mobile and internet banking transactions in 2025. Of the N169.6 trillion from electronic transactions in 2025, internet banking contributed 40.99 per cent.
Further breakdown showed that UBA’s internet banking transactions closed 2025 at N69.53 trillion, up by 12.3 per cent from N61.9 trillion in 2024, while its mobile banking transactions moved from N44.2 trillion in 2024 to N51.65 trillion in 2025, about 17 per cent YoY increase.
The Pan-African financial institution noted, “Our strategic investments in digital infrastructure continue to deliver returns, with efficient digital channels performance in 2025.
This growth has been fueled by key initiatives, including: PAPSS on Leo: As the first African chatbot to launch cross-border payments via PAPSS in Nigeria, UBA Leo is revolutionising intra-African trade and remittances.
“Advanced Top-Up on USSD: Our “Buy Now, Pay Later” airtime service is enhancing customer convenience and loyalty. Innovation in POS Business (RED PAY): Merchants now enjoy instant settlements, dashboard for effective access to services, significantly increasing adoption and transaction volumes.”
UBA in 2025 had 45 million+ total customers, 430,000+ active POS machines, 2,209+ ATMs, 33 million+ cards issued and 44.8 million+ digital banking customers.
For GTCO, it generated N90.9 trillion electronic transactions in 2025, representing an increase of nearly 10 per cent from N82.68 trillion in 2024.
GTCO listed seven channels of digital transfer with Pay With Transfer primarily driving its major transactions in 2025. Pay With Transfer in 2025, according to GTCO, was at N10.4 trillion , up by 7,814.8 per cent from N131.5billion in 2024.
According to GTCO, the strong growth in transaction value, with increased average ticket sizes reflected deeper customer engagement and confidence.
“Pay-with-transfer volumes continue to increase, reflecting strong user adoption driven by speed and convenience (2025: N10.4 trillion; 2024: N31.5billion), positioning it as one of the fastest-growing payment methods,” GTCO said in a presentation to investors.
In addition, First Holdco said its digital platforms and innovative capabilities contributed strongly to revenue streams with an estimated N84.39 trillion value of transactions generated in 2025, a growth of 16.2 per cent from N72.59 trillion generated in 2024.
The company stated that mobile & internet transactions processed N79.2 trillion in 2025, up by 19 per cent from N66.71 trillion in 2024.
Industry analysts say the figures highlight how Nigeria’s traditional banks have continued to strengthen their digital transformation strategies rather than surrender market dominance to fintech operators.
Over the past few years, Nigerian banks have invested heavily in mobile banking platforms, digital payment infrastructure, agency banking, AI-powered customer services, and fintech partnerships.
These investments have enabled the banks to retain millions of retail and enterprise customers amid increasing digital disruption.
