Top 41 Largest Banks in Kenya – A Comprehensive List

Before we delve into the largest banks in Kenya, let’s take a quick look at how banking in Kenya grew to what we have today.

Commercial banking in Kenya dates back to the colonial era – note that I used the term ‘commercial banking’ because even before financial institutions or banks existed, our employees had their own forms of savings.

With the declaration of Kenya as a British colony and the commitment of the East African region to trade activities, the currency became necessary and the banking sector was born.

There are so many banks in Kenya today. In fact, Kenya could boast 44 banks in 2016. 31 of the banks are locally owned, while the remaining 13 are foreign-owned.

The Kenyan government has significant holdings in three of the 21 locally owned banks, of which 27 are commercial banks and one mortgage finance institution (Housing Finance). Housing Finance has been around for 52 years.

With the global economic meltdown and the rate at which financial institutions are closing down every day, investors, business people and anyone who keeps their hard-earned money in financial institutions have concerns about leaving their hard-earned money there, fearing that banks could go into liquidation at any time. However, it is interesting to note that most banks in Kenya have been in existence for several decades, are solid, stable and worth keeping your savings in their care.

A comprehensive list of the largest banks in Kenya always includes Kenya Commercial Bank, National Bank of Kenya, Commercial Bank of Africa and Barclays to name a few.

Among all these banks, Kenya Commercial BankLimited (KCB) is the number one local bank with offices in all major administrative centers not only in Kenya but also in East and Central African countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Rwanda. The National Bank of Kenya (NBK) is another leading bank based on the number of its branches and networks across the country.

Another bank to reckon with is CommercialDie Bank of Africa (CBA), the largest Kenyan private bank, established in 1962 and known for corporate and institutional banking. This list cannot be complete without mentioning Barclay Bank of Kenya Limited, a UK subsidiary of Barclay’s Plc.

Barclay is one of the largest banks in Kenya today both in terms of profitability and market share, loans and deposits.

Barclay is solid and has received several awards including:

– Best Bank in Africa (Euromoney Award for Excellence 2009).
– Best Bank in Kenya (Global Finance Magazine 2009)
– Best Retail Bank (Banking Awards 2009 sponsored by Think Business Magazine 2009).

Barclays Bank of Kenya Limited is just one bank in Kenya that cannot be overlooked when it comes to banking in Kenya issues.

Let’s take a look at a more comprehensive list of some of the other largest banks in Kenya

List of the largest banks in Kenya

  1. Bank of Africa
  2. Bank of Baroda
  3. Bank of India
  4. Barclays Bank
  5. CFC Stanbic Bank
  6. Chase Bank (Kenya)
  7. citibank
  8. Commercial Bank of Africa
  9. Consolidated Bank of Kenya
  10. Cooperative Bank of Kenya
  11. credit bank
  12. Development Bank of Kenya
  13. Diamond Trust Bank
  14. Dubai Bank Kenya
  15. ecobank
  16. Equatorial Commercial Bank
  17. equity bank
  18. family bank
  19. Fidelity Commercial Bank Limited
  20. Fin Bank
  21. First Community Bank
  22. Giro Commercial Bank
  23. Guardian Bank
  24. Gulf African Bank
  25. Habib Bank
  26. Habib Bank AG Zurich
  27. I&M Bank
  28. Imperial Bank Kenya
  29. Jamii Bora Bank
  30. Kenya Commercial Bank
  31. K-Rep Bank
  32. Middle East Bank Kenya
  33. National Bank of Kenya
  34. NIC Bank
  35. Oriental commercial bank
  36. Paramount Universal Bank
  37. Prime Bank (Kenya)
  38. Standard Chartered Kenya
  39. Transnational Bank Kenya
  40. United Bank for Africa
  41. Victoria Commercial Bank

In 2016, KCB was the best bank in Kenya. The report, prepared by Cytonn Investments, also ranked the Co-operative Bank as the second best bank in Kenya. Equity Bank fell from second to third place, while the National Bank took the lowest place.

See also: What you should know about the Central Bank of Kenya

Below is the full 2016 Cytonn Rankings report.

RANKINGS OF CYTONN BANKS REPORT for FY 2016
Bank Franchise Value Total Score total return
result 		Weighted
result 		FY 2016 Rank
KCB Group 60.0 1.0 24.6 1
cooperative bank 59.0 3.0 25.4 2
Equity Group 61.0 7.0 28.6 3
Diamond Trust Bank 62.0 10.0 8/30 4
Standard Chartered 69.0 6.0 31.2 5
I&M Holdings 71.0 5.0 31.4 6
Barclays 81.0 2.0 33.6 7
Stanbic Holdings 79.0 4.0 34.0 8th
NIC Bank 80.0 9.0 37.4 9
HF group 114.0 8.0 50.4 10
NBK 121.0 11.0 55.0 11
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