List of commercial banks in Nigeria are the central drive for this article as it brings you face to face with the basic roles that commercial banks play in the Nigerian society and it also sets to explain precisely what commercial banks are and how they are started.
A commercial bank is a DFI which takes deposits from customers and then awards loans for the purposes of consumption and businesses, that is, the enterprise of making investments to make profit. It purposely focuses on lending and borrowing of capital between her customers and her. While sanctioning a loan to a customer, they do not provide cash to the borrower. Instead, they open a deposit account from which the borrower can withdraw. In other words, while sanctioning a loan, they automatically create deposits. Commercial banks include private sector banks and public sector banks.
The Basic Roles of Commercial Banks in Nigeria
The following are the functions of this list of commercial banks in Nigeria:
- Accept various types of deposits from the public especially from its clients, including saving account deposits, recurring account deposits, and fixed deposits. These deposits are returned whenever the customer demands it or after a certain time period.
- Provide loans and advances of various forms, Such as overdraft facility, cash credit, bill discounting, money at call, etc. They also give demand and term loans to all types of clients against proper security. They also act as trustees for wills of their customers etc.
- Use the deposits they absorb to make loans. On the basis of check circulation and transfer settlement, the loans are converted into derivative deposits. To a certain extent, the derivative funds of several times the original deposits are increased, which greatly improves the driving force of commercial banks to serve the economic development.
- Create credit on the basis of credit and payment intermediary.
- ensure economic and social stability and sustainable growth of the economy in Nigeria.
Other Functions are:
- To collect and clear cheques, dividends, and interest warrant
- To make payments of rent, insurance premium
- To deal in foreign exchange transactions
- To purchase and sell securities
- To act as the trustee, attorney, correspondent and executor
- To accept tax proceeds and tax returns
- To provide safe deposit boxes to customers
- To provide money transfer facility
- To issue traveler’s cheques
- To act as referees
- To accept various bills for payment: phone bills, gas bills, water bills
- To provide various cards such as credit cards and debit cards
List of Commercial Banks in Nigeria.
This article of the list of commercial banks in Nigeria consists only of a total number of 22 banks that are considered by functions as commercial banks in Nigeria. These are:
1. United Bank for Africa
2. First Bank of Nigeria
3. First City Monument Bank
4. Citibank
5. Access Bank
6. Diamond Bank
7. Ecobank Nigeria
8. Zenith Bank
9. Fidelity Bank Nigeria
10. Keystone Bank Limited
11. Wema Bank
12. Guaranty Trust Bank
13. Mainstreet Bank Limited
14. Savannah Bank
15. Skye Bank
16. Enterprise Bank Limited – Formerly Spring Bank
17. Providus Bank
18. Standard Chartered Bank
19. Sterling Bank
20. Union Bank of Nigeria
21. Unity Bank Plc
22. Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Limited
Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria
Zenith Bank Plc is no doubt one of the largest commercial banks in Nigeria and has emerged as the Best Bank in Nigeria in the Global Finance Magazine’s Best Banks Awards 2022, retaining the award for a third consecutive year.
