Equity most preferred bank, new study shows

Customers inside a banking hall in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG   

By MUTHOKI MUMO

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Kenyans are more likely to consider Equity Bank

as their primary account over all other lenders in the country, a survey by mobile research firm Geopoll has found.

The study carried out in August this year recorded 40 per cent of respondents saying they considered Equity their primary banker, ahead of the 35 per cent who cited Kenya Commercial Bank

and the 18 per cent who named Co-operative Bank

.

The Geopoll study also found that Kenyans are most likely to prioritise convenience over customer service or even bank efficiency.

“A majority of Kenyans (63 per cent) prefer a bank that gives them convenience first,” says Geopoll.

At the same time, bank users were quizzed on the downsides of the financial institutions. For 37 per cent of respondents, topping the challenges was the loan facilities offered by banks and the processes involved in getting credit.

READ: Equity Bank to cut back on unsecured loans to small traders

Twenty-two per cent were concerned with high transaction fees while only six per cent thought customer service to be a problem.

The findings in Kenya match Geopoll’s discoveries in South Africa and Nigeria where customers were also most concerned about the process of acquiring credit.

Geopoll found out that GT Bank and Capitec were considered primary banking institutions by the highest proportion of Nigerians and South Africans respectively.

The study was carried out among a total of 2,825 respondents in the three countries.