Financial Innovation and Return on Assets of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

Abstract

The return on assets as a measure of financial performance in the listed deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria is not only of interest to the management team of the DMBs but also to the general stakeholders. However, the DMBs in Nigeria had experienced poor return on assets culminating into corporate failures which has led to the liquidation, merger and outright revocation of licenses of many DMBs by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Previous studies have reported inconsistencies of the influence of financial innovation on return on assets of DMBs and there have been fewer studies in this regard, especially in developing economies like Nigeria. This study thus reviewed the effect of financial innovation on return on assets of listed DMBs in Nigeria.

The ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study with the study population of thirteen (13) listed deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria as of 31^st December 2020. The purposive sampling technique was used to sample 12 listed DMBs. The period of study covered eleven (11) years (2010-2022). Validated data which were sourced from the audited published annual reports of the DMBs were used. The study employed descriptive and inferential (multiple regression) statistics to analyze the data at 5% level of significance.

The study found that financial innovation (FI) had significant effect on return on assets (Adj.R² = 0.05; F (5,11) = 254.96; p < 0.05).

The study concluded that financial innovation (FI) was a strong determinant of return on assets. The study recommended that the management of the DMBs should invest more in financial innovation products with appropriate police and processes put in place to ensure adequate return on assets.