Category Archives: CBK

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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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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Liquidity in the Banking Sector

The Central Bank of Kenya has published it’s Q1 economic report with some mentions on the banking banking sector. The report notes that:

Some banks in the small and medium peer groups faced liquidity challenges in the quarter ended March 2016 due to spill over effects of placement of Dubai Bank in liquidation and placement of Imperial Bank under receivership in second half of 2015.
Liquidity distribution in the interbank remained skewed in favour of large banks with little trading across bank tiers reflecting cautious trading ..The Central Bank however, boosted interbank liquidity through reverse repos to needy banks.
Depositors migrated their deposits to selected medium banks and large banks. Most large banks rationed lines of credit affecting mainly banks in small and some medium peer groups.

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Imperial Bank: The End?

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announced that today that the closed Imperial Bank (IBL), will not reopen. In fact it will be liquidated by NIC Bank, Kenya’s 9th largest bank.

This all started 9 months ago, on 15 September 2015, when the Imperial Bank group managing director (GMD), Abdul Janmohamed passed away. The bank directors then discovered fraudulent transactions that the GMD has orchestrated at the bank. They presented their findings to the CBK, who then shut the bank.

While the CBK blames the board and shareholders, the, the shareholders/directors say they were innocent of the wrong-doing perpetrated by the GMD; they had a hands-off role (complying with CBK rules for non-executive directors), and that their external auditors and the Central Bank were lax and should have flagged the 13 year fraud. The shareholders of the bank were optimistic that a strategic investor would buy the bank within 12-18 months of reopening. But it’s not clear if NIC has been selected to do that by the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC). NIC will also assume the majority of IBL staff and branches, and announcements on the way forward will be made in the near future.

NIC will pay Kshs 1.5 million to all depositors. Thereafter, it is expected that at some point, NIC will pay any remaining depositors about 40% of their proven deposits (there are individuals and institutions who had tens or hundreds of millions of shillings as deposits) (Last year, KDIC used KCB and Diamond Trust banks to refund Kshs 1 million to each depositor at Imperial Bank)
NIC will get access to operate the 26 branches in Kenya. But the 2015 bond information memorandum noted that Imperial owned no property. The Bank owns no Properties. It leases all the premises used for its business operations. In Uganda, the 5 branches there were disposed of in a sale.
It’s not clear how many of the 600 employees at Imperial are still around, waiting for jobs
The CBK statement notes that a forensic audit is almost complete. This is an exercise that the directors of the bank began after the GMD died to determine the extent of the hole in the bank.
Court cases will continue and KDIC will retain other assets of the bank (..cash, collateral, government securities, loans..)
If it heads to liquidation, the name Imperial Bank (name) will disappear.

$1 – Kshs 101

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Reading the Tea Leaves at Chase Bank: Part II

Yesterday the directors of Chase Bank appeared before a parliamentary committee looking at the closure of the bank. They traced the events at their bank, back to the sudden close of Imperial Bank which was followed by a slow down in liquidity in the banking sector, and finally late disagreements with their audit firm – Deloitte on some items in their financial statements, including reconciliation of Islamic bank products.

These Islamic loans were reclassified, at the auditors insistence as insider loans, and new sets of accounts were published in the newspapers, which the directors did not sign. Later, the same day, the Chairman and Group MD also said they were forced to resign. All this bad news coming out on one day precipitated a run on the bank. There were also a few (in-camera) sessions at parliament from which the media were barred.

This public spat between Chase and Deloitte all adds to what’s been an unusually busy news cycle for auditors and audits. Chase was big in Islamic banking, and in their 2015 memorandum to raise funds though a bond issue, the noted that they started Sharia compliant banking solutions in 2008 and these now amounted to 12% of their customer deposits.

This is close to the size of fully complaint Shariah banks like Gulf and First Community, and far larger than other more established banks who had ventured into Sharaih banking like KCB and Barclays.

Since reopening at the end of April, Chase Bank has opened its doors, apps, and platforms to its customers. In conjunction with KCB and the receiver manager at the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation they were able to avail funds to depositors. But the bank is yet to resume loans and lending – and that is the life blood of any bank.

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Bankelele

Nairobi writer on Banking, Finance, Technology, and Investments

Category Archives: CBK

How banks are innovating around interest rate caps

Banks Yield (Capping Kenya Bank Interest Rates Part V)

Liquidity in the Banking Sector

Imperial Bank: The End?

Reading the Tea Leaves at Chase Bank: Part II