Equity Group has announced that its strategy of going digital is paying off as both the volume and value of transactions have shot up since the launch of the lender’s digital banking strategy in late 2016.
The Group, which released its end-of-year results early March said EazzyBiz, the bank’s online cash and liquidity management solution for corporates, had recorded 126,431 transactions as at the end of January this year up from 3,036 transactions that were posted in July 2016, representing a 41-fold growth.
The value of transactions on the other hand grew 86 times to stand at Sh25.9 billion up from Sh0.3 billion over the same period.
“We believe that digitization is a game changer,” said Equity Group’s CEO, Dr James Mwangi, while releasing the 2016 full year financial results.
The lender added that the digitization strategy continues to bear fruits for the Bank as the Group rolled out tools that deepened financial inclusion and broadened access, which resulted in an enhanced savings culture. The Group’s deposits grew by 11% from Sh303 billion to Sh337 billion as at 31st December 2016, supported by growth in number of customers who increased by 11% from 10,039,620 to 11,129,016.
The increased adoption of the new delivery channels of mobile banking under Equitel and Eazzy Banking App as well as Agency Banking saw the number of transactions grow from 200 million to 335 million, which is a 67% growth, with agency and mobile banking pushing over 289 million of the total transactions levels.
The uptake of Equitel in the period under review increased from 1.6 million customers to 2.7 million while downloads of the Eazzy Banking App rolled out late last year was at 130,266 as at 31st December 2016. The number of Equity Agents increased from 23,885 to 29, 561 in the same period.
These new self-service channels that enable customers to do banking on their own devices has revolutionized money transfer and payments with customers having greater control and freedom to manage their bank accounts. This also confirms that customers want a banking service that is integrated into their everyday lives.
Overall, the Group’s profit before tax grew to Sh24.9 billion from Sh24.0 billion with the regional subsidiaries contributing Sh1.4 billion, accounting for 5% of the Group profit before tax.
