The Cooperative Bank was on Wednesday, November 20, named the overall winner at the 2024 Sustainable Finance Catalyst Awards continuing its record in scooping key awards.
The awards organized by the Kenya Bankers Association(KBA), brought together other financial institutions in the country with Cooperative Bank rising above the rest to clinch the award from the other 45 participants.
''For the fifth time in seven years, Co-op Bank has been named the Overall Winner, reaffirming our commitment to responsible banking that balances financial success with environmental and social impact,'' Cooperative Bank stated while celebrating the win.
Cooperative Bank also won the Best Client Case Study award, the Best Commercial Bank, and the Best Case Study Bank where it became the overall winner.
Other categories won by the bank include the Retail MSME where it came second and the Bank in Operations where it landed 3rd Place.
The award has positioned the bank as the best institution in matters to do with the promotion of access to financial facilities for its customers.
According to KBA, the awards offer banks the opportunity to showcase their unique leadership and financial innovations.
''The Award accords firms with a unique opportunity to showcase their industry leadership and their role towards promoting sustainable development through embedding the KBA Sustainable Finance Initiatives Guiding Principles,'' KBA stated in a notice.
Cooperative Bank has consequently made history, having won the award for a record fifth time in seven years having won the award in 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
The Sustainable Finance Catalyst was created to recognize financial institutions that have programs aimed at direct impact across key sectors within the economy. Among the sectors that the awards focused on include the financial, economic, environmental and society sectors.
Cooperative emerged winners after having satisfied the organizers with their ability to effectively balance their financial operations and other social cooperative activities aimed at bettering the lives of their customers.
Cooperative Bank has been showing impressive records at the awards and has continued to shine over the years, with more titles to its name.
Last year, the bank won Most Innovative Bank, Best in Financing Commercial Clients, Best in Promoting Gender Inclusivity, and Best in Promoting Accessibility for People with Disabilities (PWD).
The win comes after the bank posted a net profit growth of Ksh19.2 billion in the third quarter of 2024 compared to Ksh18.4 billion reported in the same period in 2023. The growth represented a 4.4 per cent increase.
The NSE-listed bank announced that it realised a profit before tax of Ksh26.8 billion for the third quarter, 8.5 per cent growth compared to Ksh24.7 billion recorded in a similar period in 2023. The performance is attributed to sustainable growth and a strong digital footprint in the country.
Total Assets peaked at Ksh750.8 billion from Ksh661.3 billion, an increase of 13.5 per cent growth compared to the same period in 2023. Similarly, net loans and advances grew to Ksh381.3 billion from Ksh378.1 billion.