There are 26 commercial banks operating in Nigeria. These deposit money banks operate as international, national or regional banks depending on types of licence issued to them by Central Bank of Nigeria inline with the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2010
No bank is authorized to carry out banking business in Nigeria except one licensed under any of the following categories:
- commercial banks,
- merchant banks and
- specialised banks (this includes non-interest banks, mortgage banks, microfinance banks, development banks)
A commercial bank may be licensed to operate as regional, national, or international bank in compliance with rules, regulations and guidelines on licensing, authorization, operation and conduct of business which CBN issues from time to time.
A bank with an international commercial banking licence is permitted to operate across 36 states of the country and the FCT, and also outside Nigeria.
However, the foreign countries such bank chooses to extend its operations are subject to the approval of the CBN and the host country. The paid-up capital required for this level according to BOFIA is ₦50 billion.
A National commercial bank is licensed to operate across all the states of the federation including FCT, and should have at least one branch in each state. BOFIA provides that any financial institution seeking to be licensed as national commercial bank shall have minimum of N25 billion initial paid-up capital.
Regional commercial bank licence allows the bank to operate in a minimum of 6 states and a maximum of 12 states with a paid-up capital of ₦10 billion.
In other words, the number of branches a bank has may be influenced by the type of licence it has. So, do not be surprised if you can’t see some of these commercial banks in your area, state or region; they may have been constrained by the types of licences they acquired. See Top 10 banks in Nigeria with highest number of branches
In this article we compiled comprehensive list of commercial banks in Nigeria, including their assets values and market capitalization.
Out of the 26 commercial banks in Nigeria, only 13 are listed at the Nigeria Stock Exchange. According to data by Simplewall, Zenith Bank and Stanbic IBTC have the largest market capitalization of N1.0 trillion each as of October, 2023.
Nigerian Commercial Banks with Their Market Capitalization and Assets Values
1. Access Bank Plc
Market Cap: N551.2 billion
Assets: N13.77 trillion
2. Citibank Nigeria Ltd
3. Ecobank Nigeria Plc
Market Cap: N393.5 billion
Assets: N13.37 trillion
4. Fidelity Bank Plc
Market Cap: N268.9 billion
5. First Bank Ltd
Market Cap: 581.5b
6. First City Monument Bank Plc
Market Cap: N116.8 billion
Assets: N2.98 trillion
7. Globus Bank Ltd
8. Guaranty Trust Bank
Market Cap: N768.1 billion
Assets: N6.45 trillion
9. Heritage Banking Company Ltd
10. Keystone Bank Ltd
11. Optimus Bank
12. Parallex Bank Ltd
13. Polaris Bank Plc
14. Premium Trust Bank
15. Providus Bank
16. Signature Bank Ltd
17. Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc
Market Cap: N1.0 trillion
Assets: N3.03 trillion
18. Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Ltd
19. Sterling Bank Plc
Market Cap: N100.8 billion
Assets: N1.86 trillion
20. SunTrust Bank Ltd
21. Titan Trust Bank Ltd
22. Union Bank of Nigeria Plc
Market Cap: N199.0 billion
Assets: N2.80 trillion
23. United Bank for Africa Plc
Market Cap: N588.2 billion
Assets: N10.86 trillion
24. Unity Bank Plc
Market Cap: N11.6 billion
25. Wema Bank Plc
Market Cap: N61.7 billion
Assets: N1.44 trillion
26. Zenith Bank Plc
Market Cap: N1.0 trillion
Assets: N12.29 trillion