EQUITY BANK LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY TO SERVE ITS CUSTOMERS
In 2024, Equity Bank, based in Nairobi, was announced by Brand Finance as the second-strongest banking brand on the planet. The brand’s value has skyrocketed to $450 million (Kes. 64 billion), solidifying this position as Africa’s tenth most valuable banking brand. And it is working, aided by Equity Group’s 20 million strong customer base.
At the helm of Equity Group Holdings is the visionary CEO, Dr. James Mwangi, whose leadership has been instrumental in the bank’s success. In a conversation with VOA’s Paul Ndiho, he shared the key factors that have propelled their success.’We concentrated on our governance systems, taking them to a level as high as you can get. By the end of last year, we had the largest number of shareholders in the world, including the World Bank and IFC,’ Dr. Mwangi revealed.
Equity Group’s unique strategy is rooted in inclusivity. As Dr. Mwangi aptly says, ‘We believe in leaving no one behind.’ Their range of services caters to a diverse clientele, from refugees to micro-small enterprises, small-holder farmers to high-net-worth individuals. With 20 million customers, Equity Group has become a home for everyone in the region.
Dr. Mwangi also underscored the importance of technology: “We are working with technology a lot. “Now, 98% of all our transactions are on digital platforms, which are becoming scalable. He says Equity Group made investments that could act as shock absorbers to ensure the longevity of social governance and essential inputs because they realized that not just financial services were necessary to reach the goals of the target customers.
Strategic partnerships have also been critical to the success of Equity Group. We launched today with Microsoft on the one hand, and MasterCard on the other, to provide the farmers with that digital solution, which we call the MasterPass,” said Dr. Mwangi
He enhanced their partnering with philanthropic foundations to access finance, especially from a social and a sustainability point of view, saying the credit guarantee for women and young people can be one of the solutions in that regard. “On what the foundation, led by social sustainability, really helped us bring that finance to the table, we have used the twin-engine model.
Dr. James Mwangi shared his dream for the future, indicating that digital inclusivity and artificial intelligence in decision-making would be more critical than ever. AI is then layered on top of the digitized systems and is utilized to conduct deep analysis on people’s behavior and needs,” he said. His reflections offer a comprehensive reflection following a different thought process and operational approach to banking by uplifting communities and powering sustainable growth in the continent.
Ndiho Media,LLC. 