This is the roll call; e-business income for HI 2022 for leading Nigerian banks, courtesy of Nairametrics data. Notice GTBank*’s number. In the past, it used to run all the nice numbers. Indeed, the ex-category-king on digital banking innovation in Nigeria needs to find its mojo back.
If you remove Diamond Bank (now part of Access), GTBank pioneered e-business in Nigeria when it launched GTPay (circa 2011). It had been hooked on Interswitch before it went alone. At that time, it was the first in that web category (not necessarily broad e-business).
But a decade later, Access, Zenith, First Bank* and UBA have taken over. Indeed, first-mover advantage means nothing over time if not defended. What matters for sustainability is first-scaler advantage. That is a major course I teach in Tekedia Institute. Usain Bolt is always slow to start but he scales best in races – and wins!
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 19 (Feb 9 – May 2, 2026): big discounts for early bird.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and co-invest in great global startups.
Register for Tekedia AI Lab: From Technical Design to Deployment (next edition begins Jan 24 2026).
- Access Holdings – N38.861 billion
- UBA – N36.324 billion
- FBNH– N25.537 billion
- Zenith Bank – N24.635 billion
- GTCO Holdings – N10.977 billion
- FCMB – N6.700 billion
- Sterling Bank – N3.923 billion
- Union Bank – N3.871 billion
- Stanbic IBTC – N2.443 billion
- Wema Bank – N1.653 billion
---
Connect via my
LinkedIn |
Facebook |
X |
TikTok |
Instagram |
YouTube
GTbank has forgotten what made it great in the first place, that bank has been on decline for couple of years now; it has lost out on both innovation and customer acquisition.
It really needs to take extraordinary measures, to attempt a reverse, because once you are on this path, recovery can become intractable.
A striking example of how a great brand faded…