Absa Bank Kenya PLC has today marked the official launch of the Absa ticker at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, marking the successful conclusion of the brand transition programme.
The change of name follows a 2018 decision by the parent company, Absa
Group Limited, to rebrand all its operations across the continent to Absa. This
followed a decision by Barclays Plc to reduce its majority shareholding in Barclays
Africa Group (the former parent company) to 14.9% and the subsequent renaming of
Barclays Africa Group to Absa Group Limited.
Speaking during the bell-ringing event at the NSE, Absa Bank Kenya chairman of the
board Mr. Charles Muchene reassured minority shareholders that the shareholding
structure will not be affected in any way even with the change of name.
“I would like to assure all our shareholders that their investment in our business is
sound and they can look forward to even better returns as we continue to execute
our strategy. We are excited about what the future holds and the chance to continue
working work with the people of Kenya to achieve shared success and bring new
possibilities to life.”
Absa Bank Kenya PLC Managing Director Jeremy Awori said the organisation has a
solid strategy in place which is designed to deliver growth for the business by
growing with its customers.
“As I look into the future, I am filled with excitement and optimism. We will continue
to execute this strategy in order to deliver great returns for our shareholders and play
our rightful role in the Kenyan economy,” said Mr. Awori.
Some of the changes expected to see, along with the new logo with warm vibrant red colour palette include:
Revamp of the Wezesha SME proposition to include unsecured loans of up to
KES10 million; LPO financing and invoice discounting of up to Kshs 50 million. In
the next few days, there will be announcements about their efforts towards
empowering SMEs which are the main driver of our economy.
Launched Kenya’s first vertical credit and debit cards which offer customers
increased convenience and a wide range of benefits including cashback
rewards and discounts across over 1000 shopping outlets.
Redefined their mortgage offering to include 100% financing, offering the lowest
interest rate in the market at 11.75%, and a waiver on all legal fees for
customers transferring their mortgages to Absa.
Expanded their Timiza product to encourage a savings culture with returns of up
to 5% interest, the best in the market.
They are investing significantly on digitization and automation of their
processes and systems to make banking easier and faster for their
customers by:
Introducing the Absa ChatBot, a virtual assistant that allows
customers get answers to their frequently asked banking questions via
WhatsApp.
Launching the MySME Tool that allows SMEs owners
perform important functions like planning and cash flow management
online.
Upgrading the Absa Mobile Banking app to give customers more
convenience by using fingerprints or facial recognition to unlock and
gain access to a wide range of transactions.
