Kenya Commercial Bank - History

History

The history of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) dates back to 1896 when its predecessor, the National Bank of India opened an outlet in Mombasa. Eight years later in 1904, the bank extended its operations to Nairobi, which had become the headquarters of the expanding railway line to Uganda.

The next major change in the bank's history came in 1958. Grindlays Bank merged with the National Bank of India to form the National and Grindlays Bank. Upon Kenya's independence in 1963, the Government of Kenya acquired 60% shareholding in National & Grindlays Bank in an effort to bring banking closer to the majority of Kenyans. In 1970, the Government of Kenya acquired 100% ownership of the bank's shares to take full control of the largest commercial bank in Kenya. National and Grindlays Bank was renamed Kenya Commercial Bank. The Government has over the years reduced its shareholding in KCB to 23%, as of December 2008. In a rights issue which concluded in August 2010, the shareholding by the Kenyan Government was reduced to 17.74%.

In 1972, Savings & Loan (Kenya) Limited was acquired to specialize in mortgage finance. In 1997, another subsidiary, Kenya Commercial Bank (Tanzania) Limited was incorporated in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to provide banking services and promote cross-border trading. In May 2006 KCB extended its operations to South Sudan following licensing by the Bank of South Sudan. In November, 2007, the first branch of KCB Uganda Limited opened in Kampala, Uganda following licensing by the Bank of Uganda. In 2008, KCB expanded to Rwanda, where the first branch opened in Kigali in December 2008. A subsidiary is expected to be opened in Burundi soon.