Category Archives: bank service

Kabura’s Peculiar Banking Habits

Last week Josephine Kabura got to testify about her banking transactions before a televised Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing of an ongoing investigation of the National Youth Service (NYS), and she made some rather startling claims about having tens of millions of shillings from the NYS deposited into her company accounts which she instantly withdrew in cash to pay her suppliers. But in the absence of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, which banks typically don’t keep for too long (the security companies erase them over if there are no security incidents), the documentation and bank rules covering cash handling risks, fraud, and money-laundering simply don’t support these claims.

While MP’s asked her about the physical improbability and difficulty of her carrying that money out of the bank (sums of Kshs 40 million in paper bags) to go pay suppliers at a quarry, the possibility of this is unlikely. A vault at an obscure bank branch is unlikely to have more than Kshs 10 million shillings sitting around. Banks allocate money to branches based on their usage (average daily deposits and withdrawals) and it is unlikely that such amounts of money in paper currency would ever sit idly around as there are insurance and cash handling costs and risks.

Kabura testifies at PAC (pic from Standard)

Within the bank, risks managers and systems would have noticed patterns in her company accounts, previously empty, and now suddenly receiving millions of shillings per day, that she immediately withdrew in cash. Also when someone tries to send, transfer, or withdraw over $10,000 i.e. ~Kshs 1 million, it triggers an extra form at the bank that must be filled out and later sent to the Central Bank explaining the purpose of the transaction. Usually, the head office of a bank will ask for extra documentation, such as invoices or contracts to support the processing of such a transaction. A similar case with suspicious payments received from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund at Chase Bank showed how such account activity triggered alarm bells within a bank and subsequently with the regulators.

When Kshs 100 million is wired to your bank, it does not mean that Kshs 100 million magically appears at your bank branch to be withdrawn as cash. At any branch, the tellers and cash managers have limits of cash they can handle or approve at any given time. They have to get approval, or witnesses to do larger transactions and those are in exceptional requests. Bank systems are set up not to allow suspicious transactions that exceed pre-set limits and daily thresholds.

For more money to be allocated to a bank branch, a top decision would have to be made by bank directors to allocate and transport more money to serve the enhanced needs of customers at a particular branch. But it is more probable that such a customer would be “upgraded” and transferred to another branch for premium customers with better security and with higher cash limits. Such a customer would also be assigned a relationship manager to help them manage their liquidity (in this case – Kshs 1.6 billion in 14 months) even better and cross-sell them other bank products.

It is more probably, as MP Abdikadir Aden, postulated at the PAC hearing, that the cash was never really there. When large sums were wired in, withdrawal transactions were initiated to show that cash was being withdrawn, but that the reality was that, simultaneously, other transfers were done and cash deposit slips were filled in to reflect cash deposits for the exact same amounts, into other accounts, a few minutes later.

Finally, earlier this year, the Central Bank issued new rules that further restricted deposit or withdrawal of cash. Could this have been due to the same Kabura activities that happened over a year before?

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How banks are innovating around interest rate caps

With the capping of interest rates at 4% above the CBK rate comes an opportunity for banks to innovate and protect their income streams. They can do this through increased focus on mobile-based short term credit facilities as well as non-funded income streams.

More people can now afford loans. However, banks are reluctant to offer loans to existing customers who previously met their criteria. More requirements need to be met by customers in order to access the same services. Customers now have a tough time accessing credit cards and (un)secured loans. Perceptions on risk determine who gets the facility with riskier clients getting the short end of the stick.

An F-Type Jaguar at RMA Motors, Kenya

Fixed and call deposit facilities are also now accessible to fewer people. New requirements such as that you need to hold an account for a certain amount of time with the bank in order to access fixed deposit services are restricting customers. Long tenures for fixed deposits have also been halved. Call deposits have been put on hold in some cases.

Banks are moving towards shielding themselves from the risk of default that will be brought about by a flood of people who can now afford to take out a loan. Collateral will become a requirement for credit facilities that did not have this requirement before. This is based on the real assumption that there will be a significant degree of default from this windfall.

Banks have also started investing more in Treasury Bills that are risk free and offer roughly the same return that they would by loaning funds to individual customers. This may be a short term move as banks wait for the waters that have been stirred up to settle. It is telling that the 364-day T-Bill is getting the most attention.

Mobile applications that increase accessibility and convenience for bank customers are currently not a significant source of funds. However, they offer an opportunity for lenders as they try to leverage on the volume of loans they have the potential to advance. MShwari-type loans could be the answer to protecting the banks’ funded income. More banks will be willing to join in advancing MShwari-type loans. This will keep people with low credit quality within the formal banking industry. Since most of them are from the unbanked population, they will be afforded some protection from predatory lending by shylocks as has been feared. Only people from selected (read known and established) companies are able to access the same loan facilities that were available to everyone. Likewise, entrepreneurs classified as less risky won’t see a significant change in their access to the facilities that they are used to. Banks have had to cut down on staff that was needed to sell credit facilities. With MShwari-type loans, some of these jobs can be saved.

More focus will be given to non-funded income streams that exist such as prepaid cards. Prepaid cards are touted as a secure way to carry cash. KCB and NIC Bank are two institutions that have put a lot of effort in making these cards mainstream.

Bankers also have the option of contesting this legislation using KBA. They can do this if they can prove that the new rates are making their business unprofitable. This could see interest rate revisions on new and existing credit facilities once in a while. An unseen consequence of this is the Monetary Policy Committee might lose its independence since they have to take into consideration bankers.

In summary, more focus will be given to customers who meet new requirements set by banks. Innovations will also be necessary to drive income growth going forward. After all, operating in white water creates opportunities in making great leaps.

Newton Kibiru, Business Development at Grant Thornton Kenya

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Silent Risks in Kenya Banking

Africa Practice has released a report on Kenya banking after great changes in the last year. The report summaries the concerns of leaders at banks as:

Competition: How a bank remains its unique to attract the right clients and deliver profits.
Regulation The Central Bank of Kenya has become more stringent.

Transformation – One example is the demand by customers for banks to be mobile (and more accessible on technology platforms).
Reputation: With three banks shutting down, other banks, and the whole industry have struggled with loss in customer confidence.

The report was done before the unexpected the signing of the of the banking amendment bill that has borough even more turmoil to the sector, and which has certainly made Kenyan banking less attractive to investors.

Citi Research: Following the interest rates bill, Citi published a report called Kenyan Banks: What’s the Opposite of Hakuna Matata?

(excerpt) ..While there is still much uncertainty regarding the details of how the law will work, of this much we can be confident: it’s bad for banks, and it’s considerably worse for Equity Bank than it is for KCB in our view.

Cytonn Investments: Published their half-year banking analysis report which looked at the top listed, and unlisted Kenyan banks. They found that KCB has the highest potential return, followed by Housing Finance, Cooperative, Equity and Diamond Trust.

(excerpts) ..there could be some negative effects as result of the interest rate cap but this is not expected to significantly affect banks’ earnings. Also that ..deposits grew faster than loans..levels of NPLs (i.e bad loans) remains a concern..regional operations (mainly South Sudan) under perfomed..we think that the sector has become fairly attractive for a long-term investor.

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Banks Yield (Capping Kenya Bank Interest Rates Part V)

Yesterday, CFC Stanbic became the first bank to extend the capping of interest rate loans to apply to existing loans.

While most banks had announced they would adjust loan rates for new facilities to a maximum of 14.5%, they were waiting to see what the Central Bank (CBK) would say about existing facilities.

But within the space of a few hours, the Kenya Bankers Association announced this was extended to existing facilities. Other banks like Cooperatie Bank, KCB Group, and Diamond Trust also announced the extension of the new rate cap to existing loans and (edit) Barclays too.

“…Consequently, the KBA wishes to announce that its members have agreed to prospectively reprice existing loans, which will see existing customers enjoy the benefits of the new law once it is operationalised. Each KBA member bank will therefore notify their customers on the process and new terms as the industry engages with CBK on the implementation.”

The big banks are leading, but there’s still silence from a few large ones (~~Barclays~~, Equity) and most of the smaller ones, except Transnational and (edit) GT Bank. KCB also clarified that the new interest rates do not affect mobile (phone) loans. i.e m-pesa loans

The reduction in loan interest rates will mainly have the effect of enabling people to pay off their loans faster than originally scheduled. The above banks have all invited their loan customers to visit branches to discuss the repricing of loans. New loan agreements will have to be drawn if they choose to adjust their loans, as some banks had issued fixed rate loans. Loan installments may or may not change, and the difference will depend on the size of the original loan.

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Why SACCO’s Won’t Replace Banks

The banking interest rate cap came into effect last week and some banks, like Coop and KCB have set out to comply with the new rates for new loans. But some people have been saying that they will shift to SACCO’s if banks cut back on borrowing that they consider too risky to make at below the 14.5% set by the new law.

But SACCO’s won’t really replace banks. SACCO’s (savings and credit society societies) in which members register, save, and borrow are very good vehicles for customers who understand their needs and have definite investment goals. They are able to borrow loans, at lower rates than banks and often without the need for collateral, usually by having other members guarantee each other.

But the amount members can borrow is limited, usually by how much they have saved (you cannot borrow more than five times your savings, how much they have outstanding or how many loans they already have. Also you can’t borrow until you have been a member and built up savings for about six months. They require regular deposits, usually each month so this work with salaried people or disciplined savers. They also work well with rural societies and farmers, though some in sectors like coffee have been plagued by debts following crop failure or society mismanagement.

Finally, some SACCO’s uch as Mwalimu, Harambee, Kenya Police, and Afya have over ten billion shillings in assets, but most SACCO’s are smaller than banks and don’t have the credit to lena or range of products that banks do to lend to millions of borrowers. While some SACCO’s have bank-like services like cheque books, and debit cards, they also don’t have the range of financing – trade finance, overdrafts, credit cards that bank customers are used to.

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Bankelele

Nairobi writer on Banking, Finance, Technology, and Investments

Category Archives: bank service

Kabura’s Peculiar Banking Habits

How banks are innovating around interest rate caps

Silent Risks in Kenya Banking

Banks Yield (Capping Kenya Bank Interest Rates Part V)

Why SACCO’s Won’t Replace Banks