Digital Banking Innovations: An Imperative for Operational Efficiency in Listed Nigerian Deposit Money Banks (Published)
The growing use of digital platforms in banking has greatly changed the way services are provided in Nigeria. There are still differences in how these innovations do, however, perform in terms of operations. The impact of digital banking innovations on operational efficiency of listed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria (2010-2024) was studied. The study used an ex-post facto type of research design and secondary data was obtained from the annual reports of the 14 listed banks. Digital banking innovations were proxied by Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Electronic Mobile Banking (EMB) transactions, while operational efficiency was measured by Non-Performing Loans (NPL) and Liquidity Ratio (LR) was used as a control variable. Data was analysed using correlation and panel regression. The results revealed that ATM had positive but insignificant relationship with NPL, whereas electronic mobile banking transactions had negative but insignificant relationship with NPL. Liquidity ratio had a positive and insignificant effect on the operational efficiency. The study finds that digital banking innovations and liquidity management can affect the operational performance, but do not have a significant impact to the extent that the study suggests on the loan performance of listed Nigerian deposit money banks. The study suggests that financial institutions should invest more in their ATM and mobile banking systems, encourage digital banking adoption, strengthen credit risk management, and ensure proper liquidity management to boost efficiency and reduce financial risks
Keywords: Nigerian Banks, Operational Efficiency, automated teller machines (ATM), digital banking innovations, electronic mobile banking (EMB)