The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has released the average interest rates charged by different banks in a bid to promote fair competition and reduce borrowers exposure to high lending rates.
According to the regulator, the move is also aimed at enhancing transparency among the commercial banks and enable the public to make informed decisions when seeking loans.
In the report, the cheapest bank in Kenya to secure a peronal loan stretching up to five years is Guardian bank, with its lending rate standing at (14.1%).
Other banks with friendlier rates include: National Bank (14.7%), Family Bank (14.8%), Housing Finance (14.8%), DTB (15.2%), Imperial Bank (16%) and KCB (16.6%).
On the other hand, those charging more than 20% interest rates on the same personal loans over the same period are NIC (20%), Jamii Bora (21%), Fidelity Commercial Bank (21%), Equity Bank (21.3%), CBA (21.3%), CfC Stanbic (22%), Standard Charted (22.2%), Guarantee Trust Bank (23.7%), UBA (24.1%), Middle East Commercial Bank (24.2%), Credit Bank (24.5%), Consolidated Bank (25.4%) and the highest being K-Rep at 25.7%.
“It should be noted that the published interest rates only constitute banks’ lending rates. Over and above these rates, banks may levy other fees and charges, including administration fees, processing fees, valuation fees, legal fees and commitment fees, among others. Therefore the effective rates charged by individual banks may be higher than these published interest rates depending on the other fees and charges levied on loan products by the specific bank,” reads the report by the CBK.
The rates published are according to what the different banks were charging as at mid December (2015).
