Between January and June 2019 , four leading banks generated N 24 . 3bn from account maintenance charged on their customers’ accounts , investigation has shown .
This is an increase of about 19 .18 per cent from N 20.39 bn generated in the corresponding period in 2018 .
Some banks on monthly basis charge their customers N 50 with or without card while some deduct N 1,000 from each customer’ s account per annum for maintaining their savings accounts .
The Senate had in 2018 called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to suspend the deduction of card maintenance fee.
The upper legislative chamber also directed its banking committee to investigate the deduction in comparison with what obtained in other countries .
The earning of some banks in account maintenance charges may have been propelled by large customer base.
Two leading banks by profit , Zenith Bank Plc and GTBank , for instance , have over 8 .6 million and 16 million customers respectively.
Specifically, Zenith Bank recorded N 9. 57 bn from account maintenance fee in the first six months of 2019 . This reflects 10 . 76 per cent increase over N 8. 64 bn reported in the first six months of 2018 .
GTBank Group ’s audited report for the first six months of the year ; N 5 . 71 bn was generated for maintaining customers account in the first six months of the year , up from N 5 . 18 bn in the first six months of 2018 .
