IMPACT OF FINANCIAL INCLUSION ON DEPOSIT MONEY BANK PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA

The research is set out examine the impact of financial inclusion on performance of Deposit money Banks in Nigeria. Specifically, the study looks into the impact of bank branch spread, ATM spread and bank loans to Small and medium enterprises on financial inclusion. The study adopted the expost facto research design and data was gotten from the financial statement of listed deposit money banks and CBN statistical bulltetin. The study investigated twelve (12) listed deposit money banks from the period of 2018-2022. Panel least squares was used to estimate the models of the study. The findings of the study revealed that the penetration of financial services through bank branches has no significant impact on bank performance in Nigeria; The penetration of financial services through ATM spread has positive and significant effect on bank performance in Nigeria; The usage of financial services via SMEs loans has no significant impact on bank performance in Nigeria; The study concluded that financial inclusion has mixed influence on financial performance of banks in Nigeria. The study recommended that banks should continue to increase the number of branches in the rural areas to drive full financial inclusion which would in the long-run improve the financial performance of banks; The current drive of digital financial inclusion through ATM spread should be sustained to allow access of financial services to the unbanked population; The current volume of SMEs loans should be improved upon to drive financial inclusion and Banks should do more on cyber security to boost the usage of online banking services in driving digital financial inclusion.