Equity Bank Kenya Limited is a Kenyan bank and financial services provider headquartered in Nairobi providing retail banking and commercial banking services. The bank is licensed as a commercial bank by the Central Bank of Kenya, which is the national banking regulator of Kenya.[4]
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 Equity Bank Headquarters building in Upper Hill, Nairobi | |
| Equity Bank | |
| KN: EQTY | |
| Industry | Banking |
| Predecessor | Equity Building Society |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | 9th Floor, Equity Centre Hospital Road, Upper Hill, , Kenya |
Area served | East Africa |
Key people |
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| Products | Loans, Mortgages Investments, Debit Cards, Credit cards |
| Revenue |  :Aftertax: US$308.32 million (KES:33.9 billion) (2021)[2] |
| Total assets | KES 960,938,706,000 (2024)[citation needed]
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| Total equity |
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Number of employees | 7,763 (December 2023)[3] |
| Parent | Equity Group Holdings Limited |
| Website | equitygroupholdings |
In 2010 the bank introduced the Agency banking model,[5] which has proved a success[6] [clarification needed] and is regulated by Central Bank of Kenya Prudential guidelines.[7]
History
editEquity Bank Kenya Limited was incorporated in 2014, as a result of the corporate restructure of its parent company Equity Group Holdings Limited.[8] Prior to November 2014, Equity Group Holdings Limited operated both as a licensed bank and a holding company for its subsidiaries.
On 31 October 2014, Equity Bank announced its intention to incorporate a new, wholly owned subsidiary Equity Bank Kenya Limited, to which it would transfer its Kenyan banking business, assets and liabilities. By converting Equity Group Holdings Limited into a non-trading holding company (as defined under the Banking Act) that owns both banking and non-banking subsidiary companies and provides strategic, brand, risk and personnel management to its subsidiaries, the group would be better able to invest and develop the businesses.[8]
During an extraordinary shareholders general meeting held on 24 November 2014, it was resolved to restructure the firm, leading to the formation of Equity Bank Kenya Limited.[9]
Equity Bank Kenya won the most Socially Responsible Bank of the Year by the African Banker Awards for the year of 2019 and also Bank of the Year in Kenya award by The Banker for the year 2019.[10]
According to the business daily, the bank rebranded in 2019 in a bid to do business under one brand for the next phase of growth as the bank was marking 35 years.[11] In 2020, Equity Bank acquired Banque Commercial Du Congo (BCDC).[12]
Ownership
editThe Equity Bank Kenya Limited is wholly owned by the Equity Group Holdings, which has a customer base in excess of 14 million in six East African countries, making it one of the largest commercial banks on the African continent by number of customers.[13]
Branch network
edit
Equity Bank maintains a network of 190 branches across Kenya, which includes 52 branches in Nairobi.[14]
Governance
editThe eight-member board of directors is chaired by Ambassador Erastus J O Mwencha. Gerald Warui, serves as the managing director of the bank.[15]
Controversies and fraud
editEquity Bank has found itself in the midst of controversies, especially cyber fraud associated with its ATM cards, Equitel SIM cards, and Eazzybanking (a mobile banking platform) services that lead to the loss of clients' savings.[16] Although the cases are scattered, they have been relatively consistent recently, prompting the bank to issue statements warning customers about the same and adding more security layers to its services. For instance, the bank introduced a one-time PIN to its mobile banking and internet banking services.[17][18] [19] It is also suspected that some cases are a result of inside job from unethical employees and agents and that refunds are not guaranteed with some clients reporting threats and intimidation when making followups.[20]
In the past, Equity Bank employees have also been implicated in tax evasion scandals. In 2016, the bank surrendered two of its employees to the KRA for prosecution over their role in facilitating tax evasion, in which Ksh.124 million in import duty was lost.[21]
In January 2021, Equity Bank Congo was embroiled in a controversy with the Congolese Central Bank after its merger with the country’s second-largest bank, Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC). In the middle of the controversy was a memo in which James Mwangi unilaterally announced plans to integrate BCDC's operations and data into Equity Group's database, set up an initial management committee, and appoint two managing directors. The Banque Centrale du Congo disapproved of the decisions arguing that the "Legal and regulatory requirements do not allow for two managing directors to oversee one institution" and that Mr. Mwangi had no capacity to make the decisions as he was only a "representative of a shareholder and has not been mandated by the acquiring company to make decisions on its behalf."[22]
In May 2023, a customer sued the lender for an alleged breach of their privacy after the bank shared his information with an unauthorized third party without consent.[23]
In April 2024, reports emerged that a 7-day hackers expedition made away with Ksh 179,677,736 from 551 customers through debit card fraud.[24]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "Ambassador Erastus J O Mwencha is Appointed Board Chairman of Equity Bank (Kenya) Ltd". Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ "Audited December 2013 Annual Report". Equity Bank Group (EBG). March 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- ^ Kabui Mwangi (4 September 2024). "Equity Bank Kenya staff numbers fall for first time in four years". Business Daily. Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ "Central Bank of Kenya: Directory of Commercial Banks And Mortgage Finance Companies". Central Bank of Kenya. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- ^ "New agency banking system deepens access to financial services". Business Daily. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ "Equity Bank 3.0: Agency Banking & Equitel". bankelele.blogspot.co.ke. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ "Legislation and Guidelines – CBK". CBK. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ a b "Circular To Shareholders for The Transfer of The Kenyan Banking Business to a Newly Created, Wholly Owned Subsidiary". Equity Bank Group. 31 October 2014. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- ^ Wahito, Margaret (31 October 2014). "Equity Bank restructuring to form new holding company". Nairobi: 98.4 Capital FM. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
- ^ "Winners Announced for African Banker Awards 2019 | Les gagnants pour les Trophées African Banker 2019". African Business. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ^ "Equity rebrands in growth push". 8 December 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ Omondi, Dominic. "Equity Bank value crosses Sh1tr after Congo acquisition". The Standard. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ Flood, Zoe (3 July 2014). "Kenya's Mobile Innovation Brings Digital Money Closer". BBC News. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
- ^ "Equity Bank Branches | Equity Bank Branches Kenya | Branches Equity Bank Kenya". banks-kenya.com. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ^ "Equity Appoints Veteran Insider for Managing Director Position | Equity Group Holdings". Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ Abuya, Kenn (30 September 2020). "The Tale of Fraud Cases at Equity, and What the Bank is Doing About It". Techweez. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Onyango, Alfred (9 February 2023). "Equity Bank Asks Customers To Be Alert As Scammers Run Amork". The Star Kenya. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Mwende, Sharon (4 February 2023). "Relax, We've Dealt With Fraud Cases, Equity Bank Assures". The Star Kenya. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Abuya, Kenn (12 August 2020). "How Latest Eazzy Banking Update Shields Customers From Scammers". Techweez. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Ladu, Ismail (19 August 2021). "Bank customer spends months chasing her defrauded Shs21m". Daily Monitor. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Wafula, Paul (17 March 2016). "Equity Bank surrenders staff to KRA over fraud". The Standard. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Bujakera, Stanis; M’Bida, Aurélie (28 January 2021). "DRC's problems with Kenya's Equity Bank and James Mwangi". The Africa Report. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Kiplagat, Sam (15 May 2023). "Customer Sues Equity Bank for Data Breach Dispute". Business Daily. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
- ^ Kimuyu, Hillary (17 April 2024). "How hackers stole Sh179 million from Equity Bank in seven days". Nairobi News. Retrieved 17 April 2024.