New merged bank, NCBA has said it will now begin rationalisation of over 105 branches especially those located in the same location and expand to other counties.
The new entity springs from the merger of NIC Bank and Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) following approval by the The Central Bank Of Kenya and National Treasury on September 27.
“If one branch is closed then it will have to be replaced with another," said NCBA managing director John Gachora during the unveiling of new logo and tagline.
Gachora dismissed the possibility of credit concentration risk from single parties banked in NIC and CBA.
“At the heart of the merger, the biggest risk would be the people. None of the customer overlaps presents a major risk to the business as we were prepared for it,” he added.
He said the group will ensure the exposures are controlled in a safe and sound manner.
He sad the newly formed outfit will not retrench employees.
“We have no intention of letting people go,” he said.
He said a new organisation design has been cascaded and all job descriptions developed with all previous NIC and CBA employees offered roles within NCBA to bring the workforce to more than 2,400 people.
Jeremy Ngunze who previously served as CBA Kenya chief executive is now the group's director corporate development and regional business while NIC Bank’s executive director Alan Dodd's position changes to group director, asset finance and business solutions.
The bank plans to finalise the harmonisation of its systems by end of October.
“Our ambition is that by November 1 all NCBA customers will experience the same service levels regardless of their previous relationship at NIC or CBA,” Gachora said.
Already 75 per cent of branding has been done.
The next phase of the merger is the integration of the businesses in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, which is still subject to specific regulatory approvals.
About 34 shareholders of CBA will own 53 per cent of the combined entity, while NIC group shareholders will hold 47 per cent.
The new shares are expected to trade by the end of October.
The bank is expected to leverage on the strengths of the former two brands and run as the country's third-largest bank by assets base worth Sh444 billion.
NCBA will relegate Co-operative Bank, with Sh429.5 billion in assets, to fourth place.
KCB Group and Equity Group rank first and second with assets of Sh746.5 billion and Sh638.6 billion respectively.
NCBA will be second-largest bank by customer deposits, sharing 30.2 million M-Shwari customers, 15.9 million customers under Fuliza and hold a banking customer base of 41.1 million.
