DTB to rollout agency banking

Diamond Trust Bank will be launching its agency banking network in October this year, the lender’s group chief executive officer and managing director Nasim Devji has said.

Kenya’s tenth largest bank, which is also planning to increase its branch network to 90 by the end of the year, will now be joining others like Equity, Cooperative, KCB Group and Family Bank which have already rolled out agency banking networks.

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Ms Devji has said that the lender’s agency network will support the bank’s branch network by reaching more customers in a convenient way.

“We will launch agency banking in October this year. We are looking at the 1^st of October. It is something that we think is very critical, it is part of our strategy and it will support our branch network,” she said.

Ms Devji who was speaking at the launch of the lenders rights issue said that the agents will provide convenience while the branches will provide products that the agents are not able to offer.

“We will have branches and around the branches we hope to have these agents who support our customers,” she said.

As at the end of March this year, there were eight commercial banks that had contracted 10,066 active agents who had facilitated over 13 million transactions valued at Sh64.8 billion according to the Central Bank of Kenya.

Other lenders who have obtained licenses for agency banking include Consolidated, Chase, First Community, Citibank and Transnational Bank.

Commercial banks are now using security companies, courier services, pharmacies, supermarkets and post offices to act as third party agents to provide cash-in -cash-out transactions and other services.

The banking regulator introduced the agent banking model in 2010 to help lenders provide banking services to their customers in a cost effective manner, particularly those who are currently unbanked or under-banked.