KCB Group has signed a binding agreement to acquire a 75% stake in Riverbank Solutions Limited, a Kenyan financial technology firm.

This acquisition is part of KCB’s strategy to enhance its digital footprint and improve its MSME customer value proposition. Once finalized, Riverbank will become a subsidiary of KCB Group Plc.

Riverbank Solutions specializes in banking agency services, social payments, and business solutions across Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.

The acquisition allows KCB to integrate Riverbank’s technology into its operations, offering customers improved access to financial tools such as inventory management, financial reporting, and payroll management through Riverbank’s ‘Zed 360’ platform.

“We are actualizing new digital capabilities to deliver customer-centred value propositions through technology to guarantee seamless, reliable, secure, and innovative solutions for our customers. Across the region, payments are expected to have the fastest growth, suggesting an opportunity to innovate. That’s why we have made this strategic acquisition to enable us to offer a full stack of solutions. This is a great opportunity to maximize value for our shareholders in the long-term while strengthening the competitive position for the Group,” said KCB Group CEO Paul Russo.

Riverbank’s other solutions include Swipe, a platform for agency banking services, Zizi for revenue collection, and CheckSmart for social payments.

These solutions will be integrated into KCB’s existing digital banking ecosystem, consolidating its agent banking channels into one platform.

Riverbank has been a key technology partner for KCB since 2013, providing agency banking solutions. “Riverbank is not new to us as they have been providing us with Agency Banking Solution since 2013.

Additionally, we see true value in the Zed 360 platform under which we expect to step up the delivery of our value proposition to MSMEs as well as in harnessing the ecosystem banking,” Russo added.

The acquisition aligns with KCB’s broader digital transformation strategy, which includes seamless transaction services, instant digitized lending, and business management tools for SMEs.

The bank also aims to offer non-banking solutions such as business training and marketplace access for its customers.

KCB Group has been expanding its regional presence through acquisitions. In 2022, it acquired an 85% stake in Trust Merchant Bank (TMB) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, bolstering its footprint in Central Africa.

It also acquired Atlas Mara’s banking operations in Rwanda and Tanzania, including Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc (BPR) and African Banking Corporation Tanzania (BancABC).

In 2019, KCB took over National Bank of Kenya (NBK) but has since agreed to sell it to Access Bank of Nigeria.

The acquisition of Riverbank signals a pivot from traditional banking into digital payment solutions, an area experiencing rapid growth.

KCB’s latest financial results show a 64.9% increase in profit after tax, reaching KES 61.8 billion in 2024, up from KES 37.5 billion the previous year.

Non-interest income, which includes earnings from non-banking services, grew by 16.5% to KES 67.5 billion, driven by higher foreign exchange trading income.

With this acquisition, KCB is positioning itself as a leader in digital financial services, integrating fintech capabilities to improve efficiency, expand its customer base, and increase revenue from non-banking operations.