Equity Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. James Mwangi has addressed concerns following reports of looming layoffs at the bank across its branch network.
The affected workers spread across the bank’s head office and branches nationwide, including both senior managers and junior staff members.
Speaking during the announcement of the bank’s quarter one results on Thursday, May 29, Dr. Mwangi noted that this was because of a conduct audit that all employees were subjected to, following the loss of Ksh.1.5 billion at the bank.
“I want to encourage customers not to compromise staff because you risk their jobs because we have zero tolerance on anybody who is conflicted,” he said.
Equity Group’s toll-free number
Equity Bank Kenya has further committed to releasing a toll-free number, allowing customers to share their frustrations about staff who seemingly hinder service delivery.
“Customers should be served and enabled to realise their dreams without any inhibition whatsoever. So, there is no obligation whatsoever for any customer to buy a staff lunch or to give them a tip because essentially, we are not on the lookout and that jeopardizes the position of a staff,” stated Dr. Mwangi.
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Last week, the lender said that the dismissals followed months of investigations launched in December 2024.
Staff were required to account for any irregular income in their bank or M-Pesa accounts for the past two years, with face-to-face disciplinary hearings held for those with unexplained deposits.
Equity further revealed that the employees used stolen IT credentials belonging to a manager in the Group Processing Centre which were used to authorize over 40 high-value transactions that funneled nearly Ksh1.5 billion to external bank accounts.
Some of the transactions flagged included money transfers tied to clients, entities, or fellow employees, a violation of Equity’s internal ethics code.
The staff received termination letters citing gross misconduct, conflict of interest, and ethical breaches.
Additionally, employees were offered salaries up to the last day they worked, pay for unused leave, and notice pay in line with the bank’s termination policy.
Mwangi had last week stated that the sacking was not a redundancy plan but a necessary cleanup to uphold the bank’s currency of trust.
2025 Quarter 1 performance
During the release of the Equity Bank’s quarter one results, the lender announced that earnings dropped to Ksh15.4 billion on the back of high inflation and currency depreciation in South Sudan.
The Kenya subsidiary registered a 7% growth in deposits to Ksh792.7 billion, total revenue up 19%, non-funded income increased by 23% to Ksh7.57 billion which resulted to a 50% increase in profit before tax.
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Equity bank Tanzania’s profit before tax increased by 540%, positively impacting returns with return on assets and return on equity at 3.2% and 22.6% respectively.
“We are proud of the resilience demonstrated by the Group amidst a challenging global economic landscape, where our financial strength provides the flexibility to seize opportunities as the regional economy presents diversified levers for growth,” said Mwangi.
“This, coupled with the strength of our regional and non-banking subsidiaries, positions us to continue delivering sustainable growth and creating long-term value for our customers, communities, and shareholders, supported by our strong liquidity and total capital positions of 58.5% and 18.3% respectively.”
Net interest income increased by 3% from Ksh27.8 billion to Ksh28.6 billion while total expenses decreased by 1% to Ksh29.5 billion resulting to a profit before tax of Ksh18.7 billion.
In addition, the Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio remained below the industry average at 14%, significantly lower than the 17.2% published industry average. NPL coverage stands at 67%.
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