Bank accounts to be mandatory for earning Kenyans

By James Anyanzwa

It will soon be compulsory for every Kenyan with an income to open a bank account.

Finance minister Robinson Githae said plans are underway to implement this proposal through this year’s Finance Bill.

The move is part of the Government’s efforts to foster financial inclusion — an initiative that seeks to reach out to Sh12 million unbanked Kenyans.

Githae said bank accounts facilitates receipt and payment of cash.

“In this year’s Finance Bill, I am going to make it compulsory for any person earning an income to have a bank account,” he said Tuesday.

He urged all Kenyans to embrace payment solutions being offered by financial institutions and telecommunication companies.

“We have a long way to go to reach the unbanked population as we move towards our vision of a middle income economy,” Githae said  during the official opening of Visa’s  regional office in Nairobi.

Several initiatives have been launched over the last four years in the banking industry aimed at achieving stability, efficiency and financial inclusion.

These measures seek to enhance financial inclusion by bringing banking and financial services to the unbanked and the under-banked.

These initiatives include introduction of the agency banking in May 2010, where banks were allowed to engage third parties to provide certain banking services and the introduction of credit reference bureaus to collect, collate, analyse and disseminate credit information among credit providers.

Other initiatives include licensing of deposit taking micro-finance institutions to target the lower end of the market, rollout of mobile phone financial services and lowering the cost of doing business through the establishment of currency centres in Nyeri, Nakuru and Meru.