Equity takes first East Africa banking crown

Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi (left) is congratulated by chief judge James McFee after the lender was named Best Bank in East Africa. Photo/DIANA NGILA 

By MUGAMBI MUTEGI

In Summary

• The first cross-border survey involved 39 Kenyan banks, 26 Ugandan lenders, 38 from Tanzania and 13 from Rwanda.
• Survey focused on customer loyalty, a bank’s corporate image, use of technology, point of
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Equity Bank has been named the best bank in East Africa, beating more than 100 other contenders in a regional survey conducted by ThinkBusiness magazine.

The first cross-border survey involved 39 Kenyan banks, 26 Ugandan lenders, 38 from Tanzania and 13 from Rwanda.

KCB and Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) were ranked as the second and third best institutions respectively in the survey, which focused on customer loyalty, a bank’s corporate image, use of technology, point of interaction with clients, bank personnel, range of products on offer and ease of access.

“We welcome these awards and wish to affirm that we cannot afford to be complacent in our service delivery and overall customer experience,” said James Mwangi, Equity Bank’s chief executive.

The ninth edition of the annual ThinkBusiness Banking Awards, which were held on Wednesday night, also saw Equity Bank retain the trophy for the bank with the lowest charges. It also received the top award for the best banking product marketing for its BebaPay promotion.

READ: Equity ranked Kenya’s top bank in a new survey

KCB was another big winner, scooping three other top honours including the bank with the best agency network, the best bank in asset finance and also in SME banking.

DTB emerged the best Kenyan bank in customer satisfaction while Co-operative Bank won the best bank in micro finance and in retail banking categories.

“We model all our products and service innovations around delighting the customer and we are delighted that our fantastic customers recognise this,” said Nasim Devji, the DTB chief executive.

She presented the Chief Executive of the Year award, which she won last year, to Munir Ahmed of National Bank. Another individual recognised on the night was 92-year-old Dr Maganlal Chandaria who was given the Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It is good to open up this competition to the region. After all, most banks in Kenya are expanding into the region,” said Ochieng’ Oloo, founder and chief executive of ThinkBusiness.

Centenary Bank won the best bank in customer care in Uganda while FMBE Bank got a similar recognition for Tanzania. The best bank award in Rwanda went to Bank of Kigali