The quarter one phase of financial results for Equity Bank has been impeccable. Having penetrated different parts of the country and growing its network in major Eastern and Southern Africa Countries, the lender was able to record a five percent growth in net profit to Sh6.2 billion from Sh5.9 billion in its similar quarter last year attributed to increased customer deposits and improved loan book.
Equity bank’s total income grew to Sh17.6 billion from Sh16.6 billion while its interest income rose marginally to Sh13.5 billion from Sh12.7 billion last year which was brought about by digital platforms which transacted 93 percent of the bank’s loan book during the quarter under review.
While at it, Equity announced its new partnership with Safaricom to leverage the collaboration and the robust macro-economic growth to be the region’s leading bank. The ban will be joining two other large financial service providers in the industry KCB Group and Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) who have been working with the telco giant in offering KCB Mpesa, Mshwari, and Fuliza, products that have performed very well in the market.
“Equity and Safaricom partnership is a plug and play because we have digitized our bank. We can leverage on Safaricom’s technology, data capability, and analytics to stimulate financial inclusion in the region with Ksh 300 Billion. And we hope to grow the amount to Ksh 450 Billion in five years. In the Ksh 300 Billion, Equity can convert the Ksh 170 Billion government stock into loans and grow its yields from 8 percent to 13 percent in terms of other income. Since our regional growth is twice as faster, with our established trade routes, M-Pesa can penetrate into these regions,” said Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi during the Quater One Investor’s Briefing.
Last Month, Equity Bank and Safaricom signed a Memorandum of Understanding to deepen financial inclusion by announcing that they will be revamping MKesho, an integrated service between the two companies was to allow its users to send money from their MPesa accounts to Equity Bank Accounts seamlessly.