October 1, 2025
Zenith and GTCO, led the group of Five of Nigeria’s lenders to collectively poured N126.8 billion into information technology, IT, in the first half of 2025 in an aggressive push to strengthen digital banking infrastructure and boost cybersecurity in the sector.
The five banks, Zenith, GTCO, Stanbic IBTC, UBA and Wema Bank, either increased their IT spending or more than doubled their investment in technology within the period under review.
While many of the banks periodically announcing service disruptions for ‘maintenance’ many others too had embarked on core banking platform upgrades towards the end of year 2024, the IT capacity enhancements continue into this year.
A breakdown of the numbers shows Zenith Bank leading the pack with N49.88 billion, more than double its N23.09 billion outlay in the same period last year.
GTCO followed with N37.76 billion, slightly higher than its N36.60 billion spend in H1 2024, while Stanbic IBTC committed N23.74 billion compared with N15.86 billion last year.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) maintained near-flat spending at N6.72 billion versus N6.70 billion in the prior period.
Wema Bank, stood out with an investment of N8.65 billion, a huge leap from just N1.13 billion last year, highlighting its heavy bet on digital banking through its ALAT platform.
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In all, Access Holdings was the overall biggest spender on IT in full year 2024, the bank has yet to release its half-year 2025 financial results.
First HoldCo and Sterling Holdings, are two other financial institutions that have released their results, but did not disclose their IT spending for the period.
The rapid growth of cashless transactions, a trend accelerated by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s, CBN, naira redesign policy and the withdrawal limits introduced in December 2022, fueled the surge in banks’ IT spending in recent years.
Nigerian banks increased their IT spending by 109% in 2024, as they committed a total of N518.5 billion to modernize their operations compared with the N248 billion they spent in 2023.
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Aside the e-payment boom, industry analysts say the lenders are also ramping up IT investments to streamline operations, improve customer experience, and strengthen security.
These outlays cover advanced software solutions and digital tools designed to boost efficiency, enhance service delivery, and safeguard transactions.
With the CBN encouraging digital innovation and financial inclusion, coupleed with fintechs intensifying competition in payments and lending, banks are also under pressure to modernize operations and roll out faster, more secure platforms.
Industry stakeholders say Nigerian banks still need to invest more despite the current level of investments by the banks, especially in the area of cybersecurity, as cybercrime actors continue to drain billions from the sector.
A report by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, NIBSS, revealed that financial institutions in Nigeria lost N52.26 billion to fraud in 2024, which represents a 195% increase in loss compared with N17.-67 billion recorded in 2023.
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Executive Director of Bitscape, Mr. Nonso Magulike, said, while some banks are currently doing their best in terms of investments, a lot still needs to be done to meet up with the pace of sophistication in the threat landscape of cybercrime.
“The evolution of cloud and AI is moving very quickly. This means that bad actors can do things at a rate that is quite high. So, banks need to keep investing.”
He stated that the Nigerian financial industry is currently moving in the right direction, going by the current level of investment and the regulatory oversights, noting that every business must be extra vigilant.
In the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer of Clane, a mobile payment company, Dipo Alabede, noted that Nigerian banks have realized that investment in digital infrastructure is the only way to remain ahead of the curve in the highly competitive digital payment space.
He said the banks have to do more as the increasing adoption of digital payments indicates that “the banks should also expect a rise in cyber threats, including phishing attacks, ransomware, and data breaches, thus investing in cybersecurity is imperative.”
