Access, Zenith, Wema Top List Of Banks With Highest Customer Loans In 2022

The Nigeria Exchange (NGX) has released the list of banks with the highest customer loans as of December 2022 as publicly quoted deposit money banks grew their customer loan by 18.2% to N21.17 trillion in 2022 from N17.91 trillion recorded as of the previous year which reflects a net increase of N3.26 trillion in twelve months.
In the report, Access Bank boasts of the highest customer loans with N5.1 trillion, representing an increase of 22.6%, compared to N4.16 trillion recorded in the previous year. The bank also recorded the highest interest income during the period at N827.5 billion.
This was according to data from the audited reports of the banks released for 2022.
Loans to customers by commercial banks recorded impressive growth in the review year, on the back of the contractionary monetary policy employed by the apex bank in the second half of the year. Between May and December 2022, the central bank increased the monetary policy rate by 500 basis points from 11.5% to 16.5%.
Zenith Bank made it to the second-largest bank by credit to customers as customer loans stood at N4.01 trillion during the review period. Its loan book increased by 19.6% year-on-year from N3.36 trillion recorded as of 2021, also its interest income also increased by 26.3% to N540.2 billion in 2022.
In the third spot is UBA. The pan-African bank reported customer loans of N3.14 trillion, in contrast to N2.68 trillion recorded in the previous year. UBA’s interest income increased year-on-year by 17.5% to N557.2 billion in 2022 compared to N474.3 billion in 2021.
In terms of growth, Stanbic IBTC recorded the highest increase, having grown its loan books by 30.8% year over year from N921.04 billion in 2021 to N1.2 trillion as of the end of 2022. Fidelity Bank followed with an increase of 27.6% from N1.66 trillion to N2.12 trillion.
Wema Bank recorded a 24.5% increase in customer loans in 2022 to N521.4 billion from N418.9 billion recorded in the previous year.
These credits also help drive productivity and growth in the broader economy. According to data from the CBN, private sector credit grew by N6.55 trillion in 2022 to N41.74 trillion as of the end of the year. Recent data also reveal that private sector credit has increased by N1.32 trillion between January and March 2023.
Meanwhile, as the CBN continue to clamp down on inflation using interest rate hikes, banks might have to reduce their rate of lending to avoid the risk of loan defaults and non-performing loans.