Equity Bank was on Friday crowned the best bank in Kenya after it bagged nine out of the 25 awards on offer at the Think Business 2015 Banking Awards. It beat rival KCB to second position with Barclays coming third among the Tier 1 category banks.
The awards reflected the neck and neck race between Equity and KCB, which bagged five awards, to see the two sweep 14 between them.
The aggressive growth by the two which has seen them outpace fellow Tier I banks has spilled into 2015 where KCB held a slight edge in quarter one results returning a net profit of Sh4.4 billion compared to Equity’s Sh4.3 billion.
Awards organisers said that the banking sector is set for continued growth, boosted by an expanding loans book.
I&M Bank was declared the best bank in the Tier II category, Gulf African Bank in Tier III, Habib A.G. Zurich in Tier IV and KWFT the best micro-finance bank.
Family Bank was named the fastest growing bank in Kenya. Others who were feted include Citi Bank as the best in corporate banking, Standard Chartered for customer satisfaction, Jamii Bora (best recovery award) and Bank of Baroda as the most efficient bank.
Chase Bank’s Duncan Kabui was named the chief executive of the year with Rohit Kumar of Equity bagging the corporate banker of the year.