List Of Top Best Commercial Banks In Nigeria

March 22, 2022

Commercial banks are one of the most important banks in every country and it is not only because they help you save money but they also provide some important financial services to their customers.

Commercial banks are regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which is the apex bank of all the banks in the country.

READ ALSO: Top 10 Best Banks In Nigeria

The commercial banks perform a lot of activities like accepting and managing deposit from the public, granting loans and credit and offering other financial and banking services to the general public with the sole aim of making profit.

There are three types of bank account opened in the commercial banks and they are: saving account, current account and fixed deposit account and all these account serve their own purpose.

Commercial banks also help in the circulation of money in the country through lending and borrowing of money and this why they are very important in the economy of the country.

In this article, we will be looking at the list of commercial banks in Nigeria and the services they render to the general public.

Without further ado, let’s proceed…

List of commercial banks in Nigeria

  • Access Bank Plc
  • Citibank Nigeria Ltd
  • Ecobank Nigeria Plc
  • Fidelity Bank
  • First Bank of Nigeria
  • First City Monument Bank (FCMB)
  • Globus Bank
  • Guaranty  Trust Bank Plc
  • Heritage Bank
  • Jaiz Bank
  • Keystone Bank Limited
  • Polaris Bank Limited
  • Providus Bank
  • Stanbic IBTC Nigeria
  • Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria
  • Sterling Bank Plc
  • Sun Trust Bank Nigeria Limited
  • Titan Trust Bank
  • Union Bank of Nigeria
  • United Bank of Africa Plc (UBA)
  • Unity Bank Plc
  • Wema Bank
  • Zenith Bank

Let’s briefly talk about these banks…

Access Bank

This is one of the leading commercial banks in Nigeria operating across three continents and 12 countries with over 600 branches and 31 million customers.

Access Bank was established in 1989 and since then, it has grown to become one of the largest commercial banks in the country in terms of assets, loans, deposit and branch network.

This bank has developed into a world-class African financial institution with a continuous growth strategy and it has one of the highest employability rates among the commercial banks in Nigeria.

The bank’s offerings include target savings, Fixed Rate Deposit (FRD) advantage, convenient banking, capacity building programs and treasury products.

Citibank Nigeria Ltd

This is a global digital bank and it leads in credit cards, wealth management and commercial banking with over 100 million clients in 19 countries.

This bank provides top-notch banking services to trade-oriented companies and supports the growth of its clients.

This bank provides its clients with capital for business, debt financing and also the appropriate capital structure to meet its clients’ short and long term needs.

Ecobank Nigeria Plc

This is one of the leading banks in Nigeria and it was established in 1989. It is a leading pan African banking conglomerate operating in about 36 African countries.

This bank is one of the richest banks in Nigeria when it comes to total asset and it operates in three main business segments which are Retail Banking, Treasury and Financial Institutions and Wholesale Banking.

It is one of the most preferred banks for salary earners in Nigeria.

Fidelity Bank

Fidelity bank stared its operations in 1988 as a merchant bank and converted to a commercial bank in 1999 and securing its universal banking license in 2001 and International Banking license in 2011.

Since its conversion to a commercial bank, it has grown to become one of the biggest and best banks in Nigeria especially when it comes to financial stability, integrity, excellent customer service and security.

It offer a lot of financial services to customers and focuses more on retail banking, corporate banking, SME and digital banking.

It is ranked 4th in the best bank in the retail market.

First Bank of Nigeria

This is the premier bank in West Africa and it is Nigeria’s leading financial service solution provider. The bank was established in 1894 by Sir Alfred Jones a shipping magnate from Liverpool, England and so it is the oldest and first bank in Nigeria.

It offers excellent financial services to customers and also online and mobile banking services. It provides a wide range of retail corporate financial services to its customers.

It is the first and largest bank in terms of total deposits and gross earnings.

First bank has a vast network of over 750 business areas that is spread across Africa, the United Kingdom and subsidiary offices in Beijing, Abu Dhabi and Johannesburg.

It offer services to customer through four main business segment under the Strategic Business Units (SBUs) and they are Retail banking, commercial banking, public sector banking and corporate banking.

The Banker Magazine of the Financial Times Group awarded First Bank as “the Best Bank Brand in Nigeria” for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB)

This is one of the most popular banks in Nigeria and it was established on January 17, 1990 and it is a limited liability company that has the license to provide financial and banking services to the public.

Since GTB started its operation in 1991, it has grown to be one of the best banks in Nigeria and it has also earned license to operate in some countries outside Nigeria.

It has also reported annual growth in the number of customers and major financial files since its inception and this is as a result of the consistent delivery of innovative financial arrangements and sound client service.

GTB boasts of one of the best and fastest online banking system in Nigeria as it mobile app made the list of the top 10 best mobile apps in Nigeria.

It has received a lot of awards like the World Finance Magazine named it the Best Banking Group and Euromoney named it the Best Bank in Nigeria and Best Digital Bank in Africa.

Union Bank

This is one of the older and largest banks in Nigeria. It was established in 1917 as a colonial bank and adopted its name after it gained independence to become a Nigerian entity.

 It offers retail and commercial services to individuals, corporations and SMEs. In 2009, it was appraised as the 556th biggest bank in the world and 14th biggest in Africa.

Union Bank has a lot of branches across Nigeria and it currently employs more than 2,400 individuals and serves 4.3 million customers through a network of 300 sales and service centres.

United Bank of Africa Plc (UBA)

This is popularly called UBA and it is one of the leading pan African banks with its headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria and has subsidiaries in over 21 African countries.

UBA was founded in 1948 and since then, it has grown to become one of the largest banks in Nigeria and also one of the largest in Africa.

This bank offers excellent financial services like wholesale banking, investment banking, trade finance, mobile and internet banking, corporate banking, and consumer banking.

In 2020, it was among the best commercial banks website as a result of it efficient internet banking system. The bank was awarded the International bank of the year 2020 by the Business day bank and other financial institution (BAFI).

Zenith Bank

This is another wonderful bank and it was founded in 1990 on the principles of grandeur and best practices.

The bank has always reported an annual growth in the number of customers since its inception and this is as a result of consistent supply of innovative financial arrangements and sound client service.

It is one of the leading banks in Nigeria as it boasts of quality service delivery, excellent customer experience and sound financial indices.

It is also one of the richest banks in Nigeria and this has helped it render sound services to the public. The Global Finance Magazine placed it among the best commercial banks in Nigeria in 2019.

In 2020, it was recognized as the most valuable banking brand in Nigeria and the People’s Choice “Bank of the decade” at Thisday awards 2020.

Final Note

Commercial banks are very essential in any economy as they have their role to play but for every commercial bank to operate in Nigeria, it must have license from Central Bank of Nigeria and also Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The banks we listed in this article are the commercial banks that are licensed by CBN to operate as a financial institution in the country.

They accept and manage deposit, grants loans, accept and store valuables and also render some other financial services to its customers.

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