Sterling Bank’s Zero Transfer Fees policy has saved customers N2 billion expenses since it was launched April 1, 2025.
The policy eliminated transfer charges on Sterling’s digital platform, OneBank, making it the first major Nigerian bank to waive revenue from customer online transactions.
The bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Abubakar Suleiman, said the decision was a deliberate redefinition of value in banking, shifting away from earning on customer activity, to enabling it.
“We made a deliberate decision to stop charging for the movement of money and to build our model around delivering real value instead. One year on, the outcome has validated both the principle behind that choice and the strength of the model itself,” he said.
He added that the policy has also contributed to increased transaction volumes, deeper financial inclusion, and stronger engagement with formal banking systems beyond the immediate financial relief.
“Sterling’s ability to sustain the initiative is rooted in its multi-year digital transformation strategy. The Bank has transitioned from legacy infrastructure to a wholly homegrown core banking platform, supported by a scalable private cloud environment built to handle exponential growth.
“Our transformation was never about technology for its own sake. It was about building enduring capacity to serve, to scale, and ultimately to deliver more value to our customers. When that capacity matured, we made a conscious decision to return the benefits to the people who make the system work,” he said.
The bank’s Chief Marketing Officer, Donatus Okpako, described the anniversary as both a milestone and a signal of what comes next.
“This initiative has challenged long-held assumptions about how banks create value. We are demonstrating that it is entirely possible to run a strong, commercially sound institution while being fundamentally fair to customers,” he said.
He added that the bank will continue to expand its offerings across payments, savings, and credit, with a sustained focus on improving financial outcomes and widening access for Nigerians.