Equity Bank’s digital strategy gathers momentum

Equity Group’s digital strategy is paying off as both volume and value of transactions have shot up since the launch late 2016.

Equity Group, which released its end-of-year results on Wednesday last week said EazzyBiz, the bank’s online cash and liquidity management solution for corporates, had recorded 126,431 transactions as at the end of January this year up from 3,036 transactions that were posted in July 2016, representing a growth of 41 times.

The value of transactions on the other hand grew 86 times to stand at Ksh25.9 billion up from Ksh 0.3 billion over the same period. “We believe that digitization is a game changer,” said Equity Group’s Chief
Executive Officer, Dr James Mwangi, while releasing the 2016 full year financial results.

The lender the bank had rolled out tools that deepened financial inclusion and broadened access, which resulted in an enhanced savings. The Group’s deposits grew by 11 per cent from Ksh303 billion to Ksh337 billion as at
31st December 2016 supported by growth in number of customers who increased by 11% from 10,039,620 to 11,129,016.

Agents increased

The number of transactions grew from 200 million to 335 million, with agency and mobile banking accounting got over 289 million. The uptake of Equitel in the period under review increased from 1.6 million customers to 2.7 million while downloads of the Eazzy Banking App rolled out late last year stood at 130,266 as at 31st December 2016. The number of Equity agents increased from 23,885 to 29, 561 in the same period.

Overall, the Group’s profit before tax grew to Ksh24.9 billion from Ksh24.0 billion with the regional subsidiaries contributing Ksh1.4 billion, accounting for 5% of the Group profit before tax.

[crp]