The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), in collaboration with the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), has launched a nationwide customer experience survey to improve the Total Cost of Credit (TCC) website.
- •This digital platform, launched in June 2017, helps borrowers compare the full cost of loans.
- •It includes interest rates, legal fees, insurance, and other charges across banks and financial institutions.
- •In April 2025, the CBK proposed a new pricing formula that ties lending rates to the Central Bank Rate (CBR) plus a bank-specific premium “K.”
CBK noted in its July 7 press release that the TCC website has played a key role in improving loan pricing transparency. However, the financial sector has evolved significantly. Innovations such as digital lending and risk-based pricing models—now adopted by all 38 commercial banks as of September 2024—have made an update necessary.
“The website has not kept up with the evolving financial landscape hence prompting the need to revamp the platform,” CBK stated.
The survey assesses how well the TCC platform helps users make informed borrowing decisions. It also seeks input on features like the user interface, the TCC calculator, and emerging loan products.
The TCC website is central to CBK and KBA’s drive to boost transparency in the banking sector. It uses a standardized method to calculate the Total Cost of Credit (TCC) and Annual Percentage Rate (APR). It also includes calculators for secured loans, unsecured loans, and mortgages. These tools help borrowers—especially SMEs and low-income earners—avoid hidden costs and high-interest loans.
The survey coincides with CBK’s ongoing reforms to Kenya’s loan pricing model. The aim is to standardize pricing and ensure banks reflect monetary policy changes in loan rates.
However, KBA has pushed back. They argue the new model resembles the interest rate caps repealed in 2019, which had limited credit access for high-risk borrowers such as SMEs. KBA prefers a market-driven approach based on interbank rates, citing global best practices.
Despite differing views, both institutions agree on the need for transparency. The TCC platform helps achieve that. With lending rates varying from 15.4% to as high as 26.5% as of May 2025, the tool remains critical in helping borrowers identify affordable credit options.
