KCB Bank Kenya Limited is a financial services provider headquartered in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. It is licensed as a commercial bank, by the

Central Bank of Kenya The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) () is the monetary authority of Kenya. Its head office is located in Nairobi. CBK was founded by in 1966 after the dissolution of East African Currency Board (EACB). Dr. Kamau Thugge, CBS is the current Governor a ...

, the national banking regulator. The bank has also been running an

agency banking model The agency banking model is a function of certain commercial banks in Kenya. The activity is regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya, which allows banks to contract third-party retail networks as a Banking agent. Upon successful application, vettin ...

Overview

As of December 2015, KCB Bank Kenya was the largest

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

in Kenya, with assets of more than US$3.681 billion (KES:366 billion) and US$2.776 billion (KES:276 billion) in customer deposits. In August 2021, the bank recorded a customer deposit growth to USD$5.47 billion (KES:601.7 billion) and had an asset base value of USD$7.09 billion (KES:7.09 billion). During that time, it had 201 branches, 397 ATMs, and registered 15,273 agents and merchant outlets spread across Kenya.

History

KCB Bank Kenya began in July 1896 when its parent company, KCB Group, was formed as a branch of the National Bank of India in Mombasa. In 1958,

Grindlays Bank The historic overseas bank was established in London in 1828 as Leslie & Grindlay, agents and bankers to the British Army and business community in India. Banking operations expanded to include the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and eleme ...

merged with the National Bank of India to form the National and Grindlays Bank. Upon independence, the

government of Kenya The Government of the Republic of Kenya (GoK) is the Central government, national government of the Kenya, Republic of Kenya located in East Africa. It is composed of Counties of Kenya, 47 Counties, each county with its own semi-autonomous gove ...

acquired 60% shareholding in National & Grindlays Bank. In 1970, the government took full control of the bank and renamed it to Kenya Commercial Bank Group. KCB Bank Kenya, as it is now known, was incorporated in 2015 as a result of the corporate restructure of Kenya Commercial Bank Group (KCB Group). Prior to 2015, KCB Group was both a licensed bank and a holding company for its subsidiaries. This was in compliance with the Kenya Finance Act No.57 of 2012. KCB Group Limited announced, in April 2015, its intention to incorporate a new wholly owned subsidiary, KCB Bank Kenya Limited, to which it would transfer its Kenyan banking business, assets and liabilities. The re-organisation converted KCB Group Limited into a non-trading holding company that owns both banking and non-banking subsidiary companies. In 2016, KCB Group PLC was registered as a non-operating holding company to manage and oversee all KCB regional units in Kenya,

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

Burundi Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is located in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with a population of over 14 million peop ...

and Ethiopia. In 2019, KCB Group PLC acquired

National Bank of Kenya National Bank of Kenya (NBK), also known as National Bank, is a commercial bank in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the central bank, and national banking regulator. Effectiv ...

Ownership

KCB Bank Kenya Limited is a 100 percent subsidiary of KCB Group. Shares of KCB Group are listed on the

Nairobi Stock Exchange The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) was established in 1954 as the Nairobi Stock Exchange, based in Nairobi the capital of Kenya. It was a voluntary association of stockbrokers in the European community registered under the Societies Act in ...

(NSE), under the symbol (KCB). The group's stock is also cross listed on the

Uganda Securities Exchange The Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) is the principal stock exchange of Uganda. It was founded in June 1997. The USE is operated under the jurisdiction of Uganda's Capital Markets Authority, which in turn reports to the Bank of Uganda, Uganda's ...

(USE), the

Rwanda Stock Exchange Rwanda Stock Exchange Limited (RSE) is a Rwandan Stock Exchange and was incorporated on 7 October 2005. The Stock Exchange was demutualized from the start as it was registered as a company limited by shares. The company was officially launched o ...

(RSE) and the

Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) is a stock exchange located on Ohio Street, west of Kivukoni, south east of Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital and largest city in Tanzania. It was incorporated in September 1996 and trading started in ...

(DSE).

KCB Group Plc

KCB Bank Kenya Limited is a member of the

KCB Group KCB Group Limited, also known as the KCB Group, is a financial services Bank holding company, holding company based in the African Great Lakes region. The Group's headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, with its subsidiaries being KCB Bank Kenya Limit ...

of companies. KCB Group companies include: * KCB Bank Kenya Limited – Nairobi, Kenya *

– Nairobi, Kenya *

KCB Bank Burundi Limited KCB Group Limited, also known as the KCB Group, is a financial services holding company based in the African Great Lakes region. The Group's headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya, with its subsidiaries being KCB Bank Kenya Limited, KCB Bank Burundi ...

–

Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's political capital. In la ...

, Burundi *

KCB Bank Rwanda Limited KCB Bank Rwanda was a commercial bank in Rwanda and a subsidiary of Kenyan KCB Group. It was one of the banks licensed by the National Bank of Rwanda, the country's banking regulator. As of June 2015, KCB Rwanda was a medium-sized financial servi ...

–

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

, Rwanda * KCB Bank South Sudan Limited –

Juba Juba is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria, Central Equatoria State. It is the most recently declared national capital and had a populatio ...

, South Sudan *

KCB Bank Tanzania Limited KCB Bank Tanzania Limited, also KCB Bank Tanzania, is a commercial bank in Tanzania. It is one of the twenty-nine (29) banks licensed by the Bank of Tanzania, the country's banking regulator. The bank is a member of the Kenya Commercial Bank Group ...

–

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

, Tanzania *

KCB Bank Uganda Limited KCB Bank Uganda Limited, also KCB Bank Uganda, is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is licensed by the Bank of Uganda, the central bank and national banking regulator. Location Te headquarters of KCB Bank Uganda are located at plot 56, Lohana ...

–

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, Uganda * Trust Merchant Bank -

Lubumbashi Lubumbashi ( , ; former ; former ) is the second-largest Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital ...

, DR Congo * KCB Foundation Limited, Nairobi, Kenya * KCB Capital Limited, Nairobi, Kenya * KCB Insurance Agency Limited, Nairobi, Kenya * KCB Sports Sponsorship Limited – Nairobi, Kenya

Branch network

As of August 2021, KCB Group had a total of 354 branches, 1,103 ATMs, and 15,273 bank agents and merchant outlets throughout all of its subsidiaries. It has the largest number of own-branded ATMs in Kenya. At that time, the Group had 26.8 million customers, making it the largest in the region.

Officers and management

The chairman of the KCB Group board of directors is FCS Dr. Joseph Kinyua, and the chief executive officer and managing director of the group is Paul Russo.

References

{{Banking in Kenya Banks of Kenya Companies based in Nairobi Banks established in 2015 Kenyan brands KCB Group Kenyan companies established in 2015 ca:Kenya Commercial Bank