It Will Cost you Ksh 969 to Close a Bank Account in Kenya

Have you been thinking of closing a bank account that no longer meets your banking needs? If yes, do you know that the average cost of closing a bank account in Kenya is 969 shillings?

A report released by FSD Kenya shows that the closing fees for a bank account range between 420 and 1,200 shillings in addition to the ledger and withdrawal fees.

According to the report dubbed Cost of banking, released in December 2019, the process of closing a bank account itself is straightforward, taking between 10-30 minutes.

However, most Kenyans do not formally close bank accounts but leave them inactive or dormant thinking that their accounts will be closed due to inactivity.

Many people do not know that accounts that remain inactive for long can accrue ledger or penalty fees.

Data from the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) indicates that 20 percent of all accounts in Kenya are dormant or inactive.

For most banks in Kenya, an account is declared dormant after an average of six months without owner-initiated activity.

Here are some of the actual fees imposed by banks for possible actions during account closing:

The annual average cost of running a bank account in Kenya

Data indicates that the cost of running an account, including making withdrawals, deposits, transfers and paying for account maintenance (ledger fees, balance inquiries, etc.) is diverse across banks, averaging at 4,419 shillings and ranging from 845 shillings to 17,750 shillings annually.

Accounts that charge a monthly ledger fee have higher annual costs.

However, the line between pay-as-you-go accounts and flat fee accounts is blurred as some pay-as-you-go accounts charge a monthly ledger fee.

Likewise, some flat fee accounts also charge per-transaction fees such as withdrawal and transfer fees. Bank customers on average spend 3,944 shillings on withdrawal charges, 4,485 shillings on bank transfers and 1,007 shillings on account maintenance fees annually.