Four Nigerian Banks Processed $208 Billion in Mobile Transactions in 2025 as Fintech Edge Narrows

Nigeria’s four largest banks processed a combined N286 trillion (approximately $208 billion) in mobile banking transactions in 2025, a dramatic acceleration that signals the country’s traditional financial institutions are rapidly closing the gap on the fintechs that once threatened to make them irrelevant.

The figures, compiled by TechCabal and BusinessDay from the banks’ annual filings, tell a story of infrastructure investment paying off. Guaranty Trust Holding Company processed N72.4 trillion ($52.66 billion) in digital transactions — a 7.89 per cent increase on 2024 — and recorded a 7,814 per cent surge in pay-with-transfer transactions to N10.4 trillion. Zenith Bank’s mobile transactions rose 107.53 per cent since 2023 to N104.14 trillion ($75.74 billion). United Bank for Africa grew mobile transaction value by 93 per cent since 2023 to N51.65 trillion. First Bank of Nigeria processed N58 trillion in the first nine months of 2025 alone, up 26 per cent year-on-year.

The shift represents a meaningful reversal of a trend that had seen fintechs like OPay and PalmPay capture millions of Nigerians frustrated by bank app failures and downtime. That vulnerability accelerated during the 2022 naira redesign crisis, when bank systems buckled under transaction pressure and fintech alternatives absorbed the overflow.

Banks have since invested heavily in core infrastructure — improving reliability, reducing downtime, and launching competitive features like pay-with-transfer. The results are now visible in the numbers.

“With reliability no longer a clear edge, cheaper fees, better user experience, and value-added services such as tailored credit will become more important as banks and fintechs look for new ways to retain customers,” TechCabal noted.

The figures arrive alongside data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System showing that instant payments rose 78.3 per cent to N1.07 quadrillion in 2024, and reached N284.99 trillion in just the first quarter of 2025. Nigeria has also recorded the steepest global drop in cash usage over the last decade — a 59 per cent decline from 2014 to 2024, according to Worldpay.

The competition between banks and fintechs is far from over. OPay and PalmPay have scale, brand loyalty among low-income users, and far more agile product cycles. But the numbers suggest that Nigeria’s biggest banks have stopped ceding ground.

Sources: TechCabal, BusinessDay