Treasury Bills: Bank customers show growing interest despite limited knowledge

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Banking hall

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By Onyeme Onome

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Despite growing interest in Treasury Bills among bank customers, limited knowledge of how the investment works remains a major barrier to wider participation, findings from interviews with some bank customers in Lagos have shown.

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While some customers said they were familiar with Treasury Bills and had invested in them, others said they had little or no knowledge of the investment. Some also cited inadequate funds and competing financial priorities as reasons for not investing.

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Treasury Bills are short-term debt securities issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on behalf of the Federal Government to raise funds. Investors effectively lend money to the government for a specified period, usually 91, 182 or 364 days, and earn a return.

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For Miss Idibofu Anita, a customer of Access Bank in AmuwoOdofin, Lagos, Treasury Bills are not entirely unfamiliar.

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Anita, who has banked with Access Bank for about five years, demonstrated a basic understanding of Treasury Bills, describing them as an investment through which individuals lend money to the government and receive a return.

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She, however, said she had never invested because of inadequate funds and other financial priorities.

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She also stressed the need for more information before committing her funds.

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Similarly, Mrs Emily Ochuko, a Sterling Bank customer in Festac Town, Lagos, said she was familiar with Treasury Bills and had invested in the instrument in 2025.

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Ochuko said she invested in a 90-day Treasury Bill through Sterling Bank and earned about N300,000 in interest.

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She said her decision to invest was influenced by a friend and her earlier exposure to Treasury Bills during her secondary school days.

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Despite her reservations about the return, Ochuko said she encountered no difficulty during the investment process and still regarded Treasury Bills as a safe investment.

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“I can recommend Treasury Bills to anybody and I will still go into it once I have the funds,” she said.

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Meanwhile, Mr John Ndukwe, a customer of United Bank for Africa, UBA, at AdeyemoAlakija, Lagos, said he had operated an account with the bank for about 10 years but had no knowledge of Treasury Bill investments.

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