NCBA Group has shared plans to open up 12 new branches in Kenya this year as part of its local and regional expansion.
The lender in a statement says the upcoming branches will help mobilize deposits and attract new customers, since noting that a physical outlet in the neighborhood is an important factor for customers when choosing a bank.
The bank said in its latest annual report that the group intends to continue scaling up its branch network in 2022 by opening 12 new branches in Kenya and an additional two new branches in Rwanda, bringing its services closer to its loyal customers.
The new Kenyan branches are to be located in Busia, Eastleigh, Kawangware, Kariobangi, Kenol, Kikuyu, Kitui, Muranga, River Road, Utawala, and Vipingo. There will be an additional up to 104 others spread across the region including Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Last year, the bank had opened 13 new branches in Kenya in key strategic towns that ultimately contributed to an 11 percent growth in the group’s customer deposits.
NCBA now says that the 13 branches are set to break even earlier than expected.
The bank went ahead to also open two new branches last year in Rwanda –at Nyabugogo and Kayonza— seeking to scale up its retail banking and bring services closer to the customers. NCBA and Co-op Bank are the major lenders still opening new branches in the local market as rivals maintain and scale down their brick-and-mortar operations.
NCBA institutions are now going to areas where they have had no presence or where demand has increased hence the need for the addition of more outlets. A branch is critical in recruiting new customers and collecting deposits from the local business community even in marginalized areas.
The banking sector overall though has slowed down on opening more branches as the lenders invest heavily in digital banking services that are considered the new way of banking in a digital era.
NCBA had a net profit of Sh10.22 billion in the year that ended December, up from Sh4.57 billion reported a year earlier. The performance had largely been attributed to reduced impairment losses on customer loans and advances.
