Standard Chartered Bank closes eight branches for three months

Standard Chartered Bank has closed eight branches in Nairobi temporarily for three months effective Friday, Labour Day.

The lender said the move is aimed at minimizing the spread of coronavirus in the country.
The affected branches include Koinange, Harambee Avenue, T-Mall, Two Rivers, Garden City, Upperhill, JKIA and Maritime.

However, the bank assured its customers that there will be no interruption to their banking experience through online and mobile platforms.

While announcing the full-year results, Kariuki Ngari, the Chief Executive Officer said that the bank achieved tremendous milestones in 2019 especially on the transformation of the bank digitally.

“We have achieved important milestones on our strategic priorities in 2019. Key client digital adoption measures continue to improve – we have over 70 digital services and products on our mobile app, over 85 per cent of transactions conducted through non-branch channels in Retail Banking, and close to 90 per cent of our corporate clients are utilizing our Straight2Bank platform,” he said.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has announced that 15 more people on Friday tested positive for coronavirus in Kenya.

The eight women and seven men now push the national tally to 411.

In the last 24 hours, some 1,434 samples were tested, Kagwe said.

The country's recovery rate currently stands at 36.5 per cent. By April 30, three million positive cases had been recorded globally while more than 217,000 have died.