Here Are The Most Expensive Bank Accounts In Kenya

Kenya has a total of 44 banks of which 31 are locally owned and 13 are foreign-owned serving a population of at least 12 million banking population.

The locally-owned financial institutions comprise three banks with significant shareholding by the Government of Kenya and State Corporations, 27 commercial banks and one mortgage finance institution, Housing Finance according to Soft Kenya.

Banks in Kenya have been instrumental in enabling financial inclusion as pioneers of the process. The process of financial inclusion has largely been amplified by the coming of mobile money platforms such as M-Pesa, Airtel Money and Telkom Kenya’s T-Kash.

As Kenyans continue to embrace banking, (though the majority prefer mobile banking), are banks affordable? How much does it take you to maintain your bank account in a Kenyan bank? How much does your bank charge you to withdraw cash or transfer cash between accounts?

According to Financial Sector Deepening (FSD), it will cost one at least 17,750 shillings to maintain one of Kenya’s most expensive bank account annually.

The Standard Chartered Bank with its “all in one account” is the most bank account to maintain in Kenya. The lender charges a total of 17,750 shillings annually, a 31 percent increase from what customers paid a year earlier.

The second most expensive bank account is with Barclays Bank of Kenya according to the survey. The lender’s “ultimate account” costs one 14,558 shillings annually to maintain, followed by NIC Bank with its “move pay as you go” that costs 13,393 shillings to maintain annually.

Stanbic Bank has 2 of its accounts as the most expensive. The “smart” that takes 12,312 shillings to maintain per year and the “silver pay as you go” that needs 11,676 shillings to maintain.