The nine largest banks in Kenya increased their market share in the banking industry to 74.68% in 2019 from 70.28% in 2018 according to Central Bank’s Banking Supervision Report. The gain in market share is attributed to the entry of NIC Bank into the top tier banks following the merger with CBA.
The number of Medium sized banks fell to 9 from 10 after the NIC-CBA merger. Medium sized banks and small banks recorded a decrease in their market share to 17.10% and 8.22% respectively, from 21.22% and 8.5% in December 2018.
The amount of deposits in large banks expanded to KSh 2.71 Trillion in December 2019, from KSh 2.367 Trillion in December 2018, a 14.5% increase. In contrast, deposits in Medium sized banks fell to KSh 623 billion from KSh 713 billion a year earlier. Small banks increased their deposits to KSh 299 billion from KSh 277 billion.
The number of bank branches in Kenya decreased to 1,490 in 2019 from 1,505 branches in 2018 as more banks adopted alternative delivery channels such as mobile banking, internet banking and agency banking. Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) decreased by 70 machines to 2,459 in December 2019 from 2,529 in December 2018
The banking industry comprised of 22 local commercial banks, 17 foreign commercial banks, 69 forex bureaus, 14 Micro-finance Banks, 3 Credit reference bureaus, 19 Monetary Remittance Providers, 9 Representative offices, and 1 mortgage finance company.
Kenyan Banks to Suffer more Loan Losses in 2021
