The Co-operative Bank has opened a new branch in Luanda town in Vihiga County. The new branch was opened by the former Speaker of the National Assembly Mr. Kenneth Marende.

The opening of the branch was followed by an insightful Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) networking forum that was organized by the bank in Luanda town. The forum was held at the Triple T Hotel.

“We discussed Co-op Bank’s tailor-made solutions for business growth. From stock financing and asset finance to digital collection and payment solutions, we are here to support your business every step of the way,” said bank in a statement.

The opening of the Luanda town branch by the bank is one of up to 15 new branches that the bank is aiming to open this year as it seeks to deepen its customer reach.

In March this year, the lender announced that was committed towards extending services to rural areas with limited banking services in a bid to bridge the access to financial services gap.

Co-op Bank director of retail and business banking William Ndumia said that the bank will be opening up to 15 branches in various locations in the country as part of its strategy of taking banking services closer to the people.

“When we look at our mission and vision, we want to be dominant in this market and there are some areas where we have not gone into. There are even counties where we do not have a presence,” he said.

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“We want to seal that gap. Also, because of the infrastructure development that has happened across the country, there are some key towns that have come up and there is a lot of business and some of our customers are spreading out.”

In 2023, Co-op Bank opened eight new branches. These branches were an increase on the six branches the bank opened in year 2022. As at September 2023, Co-op Bank had 193 branches.