Diaspora transaction volumes rose to Ksh107 billion in 2018
Equity Bank’s Fintech innovation and digitization has powered rapid growth of Diaspora banking boosting the total revenue income by 38 per cent.
Diaspora transaction volumes grew by 196 per cent to Ksh107 billion (US$1.06 billion) while the commissions recorded a 169 per cent rise from Ksh279 million (US$2.76 million) in 2017 to Ksh751 million (US$7.43 million) after the same period last year.
The results came in the backdrop of a unique business model and strategy that creates resilience while managing headwinds of interest rate capping and challenging macroeconomic and business environment.
Speaking during the release of the 2018 full year results, Equity Group CEO & MD Dr. James Mwangi noted that, remittances have taken a significant market share moving from Ksh36 billion(US$356.1 million) to Ksh107 billion(US$1.06 billion) and hopefully this year surpassing Ksh200 billion (US$1.98 billion) in diaspora remittances processing simply because of Fintech capabilities.
A model that differentiates Equity Bank’s from others in the market, as it delivers unmatched convenience and ease that no other bank has, the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) listed lender notes.
Equity has continued to invest in solutions through innovations and strategic partnerships with global money remittance outlets targeting Kenyans living and working abroad.
The Diaspora business segment offer a wide range of services tailored to suit the banking needs for money transfers, payments and investments.
According to CBK data, total cash inflows from foreign countries increased by 39 percent to Sh274.37 billion (US$2.71 billion) in relation to Sh198.07 billion (US$1.96 billion) in 2017.
June recorded the highest diaspora remittances with US leading followed by Europe and the rest of the world inflow earnings.
In 2018, Equity Group profits grew to Ksh28.5 billion (US$281.9 million), a profit growth of six per cent and a 13 per cent growth in customer deposit.
READ:Equity net profit grows to Ksh19.8 billion on FinTech
Customer base grew to 13.5 million clients and customer deposits grew at 13 per cent to reach Ksh422.8 billion (US$4.18 billion) up from Ksh373.1 billion (US$3.7 billion) driving the growth of the balance sheet to reach Ksh573.4 billion (US$5.7 billion) up from Ksh524.5 billion (US$5.2 billion the previous year.
