Equity unveils new look as it marks 35 years

Equity Bank staff display their new logo outside Ang'awa branch in Kisumu. (Collins Oduor, Standard)

Equity Bank revamped its brand and identity as it marked 35 years of operations in Kenya on Wednesday. The lender will now be called "Equity."

Equity Chief Executive James Mwangi said the bank has "matured" projecting it to hit the Sh1 trillion mark in its balance sheet by the close of the year.

Mr Mwangi said Equity would present itself as a unified brand with "one basket of products and services under one roof - ranging from banking to insurance and investment."

He said that the revamp followed a three-year process of "sounding out" its current and future customer segments.

"The evolution of our brand is an important part of our strategy for continued market leadership as well as being integral to the promise we made to all of our stakeholders when we began our journey of transformation to modernise. We will do all we can to get closer to and better serve our customers," said Mwangi Wednesday night.

This was during the lender's 35-year celebrations in Nairobi.

Equity started as a small building society in 1984 in Murang’a by former Chairman Peter Munga and has evolved into a financial behemoth with a presence in eight countries.

The new-look entity will first roll out in Kenya and eventually in Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Mozambique and Ethiopia.

Central Bank Deputy Governor Sheila M’Mbijjewe while lauding the sector said Kenya was becoming a powerhouse in African banking. “In the African continent, we need our own banks,” she said.

"To protect our futures, our economies, we must have our own bank and obviously they have to be substantive."