Equity founder, Peter Munga, worked for the Ministry of Agriculture. He would go to work then come back home after a while, the same way most of us visit upcountry. His mother, among other villagers of Kangema worked in the tea farms.

They would get paid in cheques. There was no means to cash the cheques in the village. So they would wait for Munga to come visit home and give him the cheques. He would then go to cash them and bring the tea farmers their money the next time he visited home. This went on for a while until he felt the need to help his community.

Back then, to own a bank account had strict regulations. One had to have several referees to open an account, maintain a minimum balance of Kshs 10,000 and on top of that were storing bank charges. Withdrawal from an account took 7 days. Therefore most people preferred to store their hard-earned money at home, under their mattresses, where it was easily accessible.

Equity has had a few phases. The first one being 1984 – 1993. This is when Munga begun pursuing this dream to help his people. Within this period, the company made losses. But since his goal was more than just profit-making, he carried on.

The second phase which begun in 1994 had James Mwangi, the current Group CEO and MD, come in. Between 1994 – 2003, the company improved its business model and even begun mobile banking. That is going to people’s homes to offer banking services and financial education. It’s in this phase that they begun computerizing their operations.

And when they hit their 1 millionth customer, they awarded him. This was in 2007.
Today, the number is around 14 million. #equityat35 #anewlookequity #growth pic.twitter.com/sc0lx7zVQj

— themkare🇰🇪 (@themkare) October 2, 2019

The art gallery at the #equityat35 party had Equity staff explain to the guests the Equity history wonderfully.

The third phase (2004-2013), which they refer to as take off, had them become listed on the NSE (Nairobi Stock Exchange) and USE (Uganda Stock Exchange). In this phase, they incorporated mobile banking (phone banking) and were the first bank to introduce agency banking. They went on to win awards among them being The Best Bank in Kenya, The African Business of the Year and The Global Vision Award in Microfinance. 

Today, Equity is also listed on the RSE (Rwanda Stock Exchange). The bank owns branches in 9 African countries; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, DRC, Ethiopia, Zambia and Mozambique. Their goal is to become a Pan-African Bank with 10 countries under their sleeve by end of the year. In the beginning, their main competition was mattresses and banks, but today, their main competition is cash, fintech and telcos. 

They are big on community social responsibility (CSR), hence the Equity Group Foundation. This has been evident through their Wings to Fly program which has over 16,000 beneficiaries. Equity runs FIKA (Financial Knowledge for Africa), which is a free program that equips the beneficiaries with financial management skills. The Foundation finances the Equity Afia Clinics which are run by the Wings to Fly graduates. The clinic currently has branches in Ongata Rongai, Buruburu, Kawangware, Kayole, Thika, Ruiru, Nyeri and Nakuru. 

A guest post by @themkare