- Banks Add GH¢67.8bn in Deposits as Financial-Sector Confidence Improves
Ghana’s banking industry recorded a sharp expansion in its deposit base in 2025, offering fresh evidence of improving confidence in the financial system as macroeconomic conditions stabilised and banks intensified competition for household and corporate funds.
Total customer deposits rose to GH¢334.3 billion from GH¢266.5 billion a year earlier, representing an increase of 25.44%, according to the PwC Ghana Banking Survey 2026.
The GH¢67.8 billion increase materially strengthened the industry’s funding base after several years marked by high inflation, currency volatility, elevated interest rates and the balance-sheet effects of Ghana’s domestic debt restructuring.
PwC attributed the growth partly to improved macroeconomic stability and stronger customer confidence, alongside the expansion of branch and agency banking networks and increased use of digital banking services.
The composition of the deposit growth is equally significant because it provides an indication of changing customer behaviour. Current-account deposits remained the dominant source of bank funding, rising 15.80% to GH¢184.9 billion, supported by increased transaction banking activity as individuals and businesses continued to route payments and commercial activity through formal financial channels.
The strongest growth came from time deposits, which surged 56.80% to GH¢49.2 billion, while call deposits increased 37.50% to GH¢16.7 billion.
The expansion in these more interest-sensitive categories suggests depositors were increasingly willing to commit funds for longer periods in return for attractive yields, rather than keeping all their liquidity in immediately accessible accounts.
For banks, the development presents both an opportunity and a strategic challenge. A larger deposit base provides greater capacity to extend loans, purchase financial assets and support economic activity, but rapid growth in time deposits can also increase funding costs relative to cheaper current and savings accounts, putting pressure on banks to deploy the additional liquidity efficiently.
The central economic question is therefore whether the 2025 deposit expansion will translate into stronger productive private-sector credit. Ghanaian banks have historically found government securities attractive because of their liquidity and risk profile, but an economy seeking stronger investment, job creation and business expansion will require a larger share of financial-sector liquidity to reach companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.
The increase in deposits could consequently become more important if it improves the transmission of domestic savings into working capital, machinery, mortgages and business expansion rather than primarily increasing holdings of financial assets.
The next stage of the banking-sector recovery will therefore be judged not simply by balance-sheet growth, but by how effectively banks convert that funding into sustainable credit without weakening asset quality.
Competition for deposits is also reshaping the structure of the industry. GCB Bank, Ecobank Ghana and Stanbic Bank Ghana collectively controlled about 30.69% of total industry deposits in 2025, with GCB holding the largest individual share at 12.37%, followed by Ecobank Ghana at 10.52% and Stanbic at 7.80%.
The continued dominance of the largest institutions reflects advantages including longstanding corporate relationships, broad customer bases, established distribution networks and increasingly sophisticated digital platforms. Yet movements further down the ranking demonstrate that those advantages are not preventing mid-sized banks from gaining market share.
OmniBSIC Bank recorded one of the most striking improvements, moving from 13th position in 2024 to fifth in 2025 with a 6.00% share of industry deposits.
PwC attributed the improvement to focused customer acquisition and growth in retail and SME deposits, illustrating how quickly competitive positions can change when banks combine targeted mobilisation strategies with product innovation.
Zenith Bank Ghana also strengthened its market position, increasing its deposit share from 5.90% to 6.30%, supported by targeted deposit mobilisation and digital banking initiatives. First Atlantic Bank increased its share to 4.90%, with the performance linked to customer retention and stronger business-banking offerings.
These shifts suggest Ghana’s deposit market is becoming more contested even while a relatively small number of institutions retain substantial scale. Digitalisation is likely to deepen that competition because mobile applications, agency banking and instant-payment platforms reduce the importance of physical branches and allow smaller institutions to reach customers without replicating the expensive distribution networks built by larger banks over decades.
Competitive advantage is therefore increasingly shifting towards institutions capable of combining trust with convenience, reliable technology, competitive returns and effective customer service.
Banks that can provide seamless payments while offering attractive deposit products may be better positioned to capture funds even without the country’s largest physical footprint.
The confidence implications are also important because Ghana’s financial system has endured significant pressure in recent years, particularly following the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme and the wider macroeconomic adjustment associated with the country’s debt crisis.
Against that background, strong growth in deposits, especially money committed for fixed periods, can be interpreted as an indication that customers are becoming more willing to place savings with regulated financial institutions.
Deposit growth, however, does not remove the industry’s structural challenges. Banks must continue improving asset quality, controlling operating costs, strengthening cybersecurity and digital infrastructure and identifying profitable lending opportunities while protecting depositors and maintaining adequate liquidity and capital buffers.
With GH¢334.3 billion now held within the banking industry’s deposit base, Ghanaian lenders possess a considerably larger pool of domestic financial resources than a year earlier.
How that liquidity is allocated between government securities, corporate lending, SMEs, mortgages, consumer credit and other investments could become one of the defining questions for the financial sector as Ghana shifts from macroeconomic stabilisation towards a stronger growth phase.
