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HF targets increase in branches count to 30

sam

Sam Waweru, the Housing Finance managing director. PHOTO | FILE

Listed mortgage financier Housing Finance plans to open nine new branches this year as it expands its hunt for cheap deposits.

On Tuesday the bank opened its 21st branch, the third this year, at Hurlingham in Nairobi.

Other outlets are planned at River Road (Nairobi CBD), Ongata­ Rongai, Embu and two in Nanyuki.

“We are planning to open another four branches in different counties across the country and this will bring the number of branches to 25 by September, well on our journey to the 30 branches target by end of year,” said HF’s managing director Sam Waweru.

The lender which installed a new core banking system last year also plans to ride on mobile and Internet banking to offer convenience and expand its customer base. HF has approximately 68,000 customers who had deposited Sh41 billion with the lender as at the end of March.

The bank which enjoys a 1.6 per cent market share has a Sh53 billion loan book, underlining its appetite for cheap deposits.

The bank is looking at growing its lending to small and medium sized enterprises with new loan products including cyclic credit which allows the businesses to service debt when they receive payments.

“This solution is unique as it does not tie down businesses to monthly loan repayments. Instead one can make payments depending on their income for instances every three or six months,” said Mr Waweru.

HF had previously relied on mortgage lending till it was licensed to operate current accounts in 2011.