AN ANALYSIS OF UNIVERSAL BANKING AND ITS IMPLICATION ON THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY

Banking business in Nigeria has been changing at fast pace from being just the borrowers and lenders traditionally, the focus has shifted to more differentiated and customized product/service provider from regulation to liberalization. The universal banking is one of the latest functional banking system, its objective to get maximum profit by way of interest. This research study seeks to investigate principles and guidelines of the universal banking scheme envisaged from Nigeria and the banking industry and the economy at large. In order to gather relevant and concise information, the researcher used various methods in collecting data which are mainly questionnaire administration and personal interview which are both primary source of data. From the summary of the work it is evident that the banking sector occupies a vital position in the economy and thus its activities must remain under constant review and analytical spotlight. It was concluded that every government policy should be the repositioning of the banks to perform better in their core functions in order to impact positively on economic growth in the country. At the end of the study, it was recommended that effort should be made to reduce interest rates on deposits, which invariably is making investible funds more expensive and fueling inflation.