Banking is one of the most profitable businesses in Nigeria and currently, Nigerian banks are rated as some of the financial institutions in Africa. These banks are licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Currently, there are 21 commercial banks in Nigeria where you carry out normal banking operations in Nigeria like deposit, withdrawal, and getting loans. As in most countries of the world, Nigerian banks are not equal.
Some banks have are a large customer base because of their age while newer generation banks are more technologically inclined with more younger people banking with them.
If you currently want to open an account in a Nigerian bank be it savings, current, or domiciliary and you’re currently searching for the best banks in Nigeria that would suit your needs, then this article is here to guide you on banks to choose or consider.
Best Nigerian Banks Right Now
1) Guaranty Trust Bank PLC
For some years now, Guaranty Trust Bank Nigeria has been ranked as the best bank in Nigeria due to the high-quality services in which they offer customers banking with them.
GTBank is also one of the Nigerian banks with a very robust online banking platform. It is also recognized as one of the banks in Nigeria with the fastest banking system as their online transactions and USSD banking is as fast as a standard commercial bank should be. It is the most preferred bank for younger people in Nigeria because of numerous online and offline banking platforms provided by them.
This bank currently has assets totaling about 3.16 trillion Naira according to Wikipedia and it is one of the best banks in West Africa. GTBank currently operates in 10 African countries and its head office in Nigeria is located at 635 Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria.
2) First Bank of Nigeria
First Bank Of Nigeria PLC is another highly placed Nigerian bank and it is the second bank on this list of the best banks to open an account in Nigeria. It is also one of the oldest financial institutions in the country as it commenced operations in Nigeria in 1894. It is truly the First Bank to begin operations in Nigeria.
This Nigerian bank is one of the leading financial institutions in the country. The first bank operates a network of over 750 business locations across Africa, the United Kingdom, and representative offices in Abu Dhabi, Beijing, and Johannesburg.
First Bank of Nigeria Limited has also won the popular award known as “The Best Bank Brand in Nigeria” by The Banker magazine of the Financial Times Group for five years in a row. It was formerly rated as the best bank in Nigeria before it was overthrown by Guaranty Trust Bank PLC.
Another thing to know about First Bank is that they offer a good online and mobile banking service. It is one of the best mobile banking services in Nigeria that is worth giving accolades to.
3) Zenith Bank
Zenith Bank PLC is a popular Nigerian bank that was founded by one of the richest people in Nigeria – Jim Ovia in May 1990 and officially gained recognition in 2004. Right now, Zenith Bank is rated as one of the best Nigerian banks and it is the 3rd bank on this list.’
It is one of the notable financial institutions in Nigeria that is listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. Zenith bank is also one of the biggest and richest banks in Nigeria with assets worth over 5 Trillion Naira. The excellent services provided by Zenith bank when it comes to the Zenith online & mobile app banking platforms are also worth mentioning.
4) United Bank For Africa (UBA)
United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, is a leading pan-African financial institution with its headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria. This Nigerian Bank is one of the largest banks in Africa with operations in 20 African countries and offices in three global financial centers: London, Paris, and New York.
It is currently one of the best banks in Nigeria and it offers excellent customer care services, swift mobile transactions, stress-free online/mobile banking, and many other excellent services in which they offer to the customers.
Main products offered by UBA include Internet banking, Mobile Banking, Wholesale Banking, Corporate Banking, Investment Banking, Consumer Banking, Money Transfer, Debit Cards, Collections, Treasury, Trade, Savings Accounts, Current Accounts, Domiciliary Accounts, Non-Resident African Banking and so on.
With over 500 branches across the continent and 10 million customers in Nigeria, UBA offers one of the best choices for banking in Nigeria and across Africa. It also one of Nigeria’s richest banks with assets totaling up to $13 Billion.
5) Keystone Bank
Keystone Bank Limited is a commercial bank in Nigeria licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. It is one of the new generation banks in Nigeria that offers top-notch banking services to its customers.
It is one of the leading banks in Nigeria and one of the largest financial services providers in the country. Keystone Bank offers banking services to large corporations, public institutions, small to medium enterprises (SMEs), and individuals.
6) EcoBank Nigeria Limited
Ecobank Nigeria is a commercial bank in Nigeria and one of the commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the national banking regulator. It is also one of the oldest banks we have in Nigeria with branches at various locations scattered across the 36 states of the federation.
This Nigerian bank focuses on providing wholesale, retail, corporate, investment, and transaction banking services to its customers in the Nigerian market and it is one of the most preferred banks for salary earners in Nigeria.
7) Access Bank Nigeria PLC
Access Bank Plc is a Nigerian multinational bank owned by Access Bank Group. It is presently one of the top five largest banks in Nigeria in terms of assets, loans, deposits, and branch network.
On the 1st of April, 2019, Access Bank merged with another popular Nigerian bank known as Diamond bank and this merger has made Access Bank the largest bank in Africa. Presently, Acess Bank has over 5.7 million customers, 309 branches within Nigeria alone and it is one of the most recognized financial institutions in the country.
8) Union Bank of Nigeria
Union Bank of Nigeria Plc is one of the oldest commercial banks in Nigeria that has been operating in the country since 1917. Presently, Union bank is rated as the most trusted Nigerian bank and it is mostly used by older people in the country simply because they’re been used the style of banking used by this bank.
Even as old as this bank is, the modern-day banking services like Mobile & Online banking provided by Union Bank are excellent as they’re continuously innovating and moving with the latest trends in the banking industry.
Union Bank also has a lot of bank branches scattered across all the states in Nigeria so opening an account or carrying out other physical banking services is extremely easy. They also provide 24/7 ATM services across the country.
9) Fidelity Bank
Fidelity Bank Plc is a commercial bank in Nigeria licensed as a commercial bank with international authorization, by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). With the extreme popularity of this particular bank amongst the Nigerian populace, it is very difficult not to notice the good banking services they provide.
It is also one of the oldest Nigerian banks that has been in business since 1987. Fidelity bank also has a huge & continuous customer base of over 2.5 Million Nigerians and their total assets are worth over $4.2 Million as of 2017.
10) Polaris Bank
Formerly known as Skye bank, Polaris bank is one of the largest banks in Nigeria in terms of customer base and total assets. It is also a commercial bank under the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Polaris Bank is a large financial institution in West and Central Africa. With headquarters in Nigeria, the bank maintains subsidiaries in Sierra Leone, the Gambia, the Republic of Guinea, Liberia, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. This bank is also rated as one of the best Nigerian banks to open a savings account because of the kind of services they offer to their customers.
This bank also has about 260 branches scattered across Nigeria which makes it easy for customers to get access to banking services fast. The bank maintains its headquarters at 3 Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria.
