Our Journey Since 1984

When we started Family Finance Building Society in 1984 the vision was very clear, Family Finance was to be the institution of choice for the unbanked population. Our target then (and now) is serving the needs of the mass market which had been ignored by the mainstream banks. This market comprised of millions of small and medium scale enterprises, jua kali artisans, tea, coffee, dairy, grain, fish and sugar farmers, teachers, junior employees of government (local authorities and central government), parastatals NGOs and even private organizations.

Our mission over the years has been to liberate the unbanked from financial bondage and the cycle of poverty. We have been doing this without discrimination as to creed, race, age or gender. We had observed that although many of these people had some income however modest, the income was never put to good use because they had no access to savings facilities and when it came to times of need, they had no access to credit facilities Even when it was available, it was expensive and with lot of red tape.

Today, much has been accomplished. We have over 600,000 customers which makes us one of the largest banks serving the mass market in all parts of country. We are the financial intermediary, providing superior technology driven savings facilities as well as affordable loans of all sizes for all kinds of needs, from working capital to school, medical fees and even food. Before we started this, no mainstream bank would have thought of giving a loan for school fees or food.

As we have grown, so have the needs of our customers. Today many of our customers have graduated to higher levels ecomomically and are involved in complex and sophisticated activities including imports and exports as well as local and international money transfer. Becoming a commercial bank has widened our capacity to serve all their needs including cheque books, clearing electronic funds transfer, foreign exchange and international banking.

We have weathered many storms to get to where we are as a successful locally owned bank. This substantial progress would not have been possible without the people, from staff to directors, consultants, institutional partners, service providers and Government. It would also not have been possible without these people’s hardwork, team work, professionalism, patience, passion, commitment, innovation, sacrifice and most important of all, remaining focused on our vision and mission.

Recently we sold shares to staff, directors and customers through a private placement. We now have over 7,000 new shareholders and we raised over Ksh500 million in the process. Family Bank is well capitalized, profitable, liquid and financially sound. As we grow, it is our intention to invite more members of the public to become shareholders. We will soon be seeking regulatory approval for an IPO at the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

Conversion to a commercial bank and listing at the Nairobi Stock Exchange is however just the beginning. The same attributes that brought us this far will be required to take the Bank into the future. Our mission remains the same and we cannot rest until the whole of Africa is financially liberated and we can sit at the table with the rest of the world as equal partners.
In conclusion, I take this opportunity to thank all our stakeholders for the support they have given us all this time.

I thank the staff of Family Bank for their commitment, their focus, their loyalty and above all, their patience as we awaited the license to convert to a commercial bank.

I ask them to go on with that commitment as I request our stakeholders to continue supporting us for which we thank them in advance.

T.K MUYA,
CHAIRMAN,
FAMILY BANK LIMITED