Spire Bank To Go For SME Market
Kenya’s economy is largely driven by SMEs and informal businesses. Nowhere is this more evidence than when you study the economy’s numbers. It for example did not make sense that only 1.5 million people filed their taxes with the Kenya Revenue Authority last month. One wants to believe that we have more than 1.5 million taxpayers (and we do), it is just that these tax payers are not captured by the formal employment system. We are a biashara economy, and all our economic indicators are clear about this.
The tricky bit for small and informal businesses is that their growth is limited because of access to capital. Most banks do not understand them, and this is why business owners have been jittery that with the changes in the banking sector, previously accessible capital may not be available for them any more.
Spire Bank promises to be a listening bank. At a recent press conference, Spire Bank’s CEO emphasized that part of the reason why they re-branded was to reflect the shift in focus to reach out to small businesses. Given that Spire’s largest shareholder is Mwalimu SACCO (a savings SACCO owned by mostly teachers), Gitonga noted that a lot of teachers have small businesses, and they will be seeking these out as potential customers.
Spire hopes to achieve Tier 2 status in the next 5 years, by:
- Talking with the SME’s and together tailoring solutions that work. They’re keen to stay away from “umbrella solutions”, as every business is different.
- Offering structural advice so that they do not just give clients money but they also ensure that clients have structures in place that helps you grow.
I love competition, because when we have more suppliers, the customer benefits. Looking forward to see Spire accomplish all this with small businesses.
