Equity Group has crossed the $10b balance sheet mark becoming the first bank in Eastern and Central Africa to cross this mark. The milestone was achieved upon successful migration of BCDC to Equity’s Finacle core banking platform. The development by the bank is expected to raise the visibility of the regional financial sector to compete favorably with financial institutions in South Africa, West Africa and North Africa for project and development finance. Speaking when announcing this milestone from Kinshasa Congo where he was witnessing the migration of BCDC to Equity’s core banking platform, James Mwangi, the Chief Executive of the Group said that the benefits to customers are immense following the capitalization as we banking subsidiaries will now be in a position to leverage the Group’s strength to extend large corporate loans across all the countries where Equity operates. Mwangi said BCDC brings to the Group 112 years of corporate banking experience and will be instrumental in strengthening Equity’s supreme banking experience. In return, BCDC will benefit from the agility of a dynamic and disruptive business model. The two brands will create a formidable financial institution in DRC with a tested and trusted BCDC brand that has proven itself for 112 years and the global reputation of Equity Bank, its capitalization, advanced technology allowing digital, online banking and sophisticated security systems. Speaking during the migration of BCDC to Equity’s Finacle platform, Yves Cuypers, BCDC’s Managing Director said, “By becoming part of a large international financial services Group, our customers will enjoy a wider choice of products and services and most importantly, they will immediately be able to access modern technologically driven banking, including a versatile mobile banking experience, international card payment options and merchants, access to a wide range of payment outlets and a broad digital banking footprint.” BCDC customers will now be able to use a shared platform that Equity Group operates in six countries, giving them access to a multi-currency and multi-country platform that supports real time cross border transactions.
