Equity Bank Rwanda has received the Bank of the Year Rwanda 2020 award by The Banker, during the Bank of the Year Awards. The Bank of the Year Awards 2020 by the Banker, a monthly international financial affairs publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd, is a continental awarding showpiece that recognizes and acknowledges excellence in the banking sector drawn from the world’s leading financial institutions. They are judged on their ability to deliver returns, gain strategic advantage and serve their markets. The Bank emerged top in class for exhibiting strong financial performance in the financial year of 2019. Commenting on the award, Equity Bank Rwanda Managing Director, Hannington Namara said, “We are delighted to be recipients of Bank of the Year Rwanda 2020 award by The Banker. The award affirms our commitment to provide inclusive financial services that transform livelihoods, give dignity and expand opportunities. We have rolled out financial solutions that have enabled our customers to self-service and access banking services 24 hours a day 7days in a week, making banking something you do rather than a place you go to.” The awarding entity, The Banker, also considered the difficult operating environment occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic and the role banks played in delivering much-needed government funding, as well as providing specific measures themselves. Equity Bank contributed to efforts on Covid-19 and helped to create a support programme for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that were heavily affected by the pandemic The Bank contributed 22,225 testing kits worth $1 million to the government of Rwanda in support of national efforts to combat the virus. It further, partnered with Enterprise Partner Solutions and the Mastercard Foundation to set up a Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience programme to support SMEs and their value chains in the tourism and hospitality sector, one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. The commitment from Mastercard Foundation worth $2.5million will be used to provide financial support and technical assistance, with Equity Bank Rwanda as a financing partner. Incubation support will be given to 60 start-ups and another 50 established SMEs will benefit from an accelerator programme. “Our strategy of delivering relevant products and services was impacted somewhat on the credit side but also stimulated on the payments side. SMEs in sectors like agriculture and pharmaceuticals have shown more resilience and we have focused on them to maximise opportunities and revitalise the economy towards recovery,” said Namara. According to The Banker, the investment which banks have been making in their digital transformation efforts have truly paid off and will continue to reap rewards in the years to come, in terms of lowering the cost to serve, improving customer experience and driving the financial inclusion agenda. As part of an upgrade to the EazzyBanking App, Equity Bank introduced EazzyPay, an interoperable retail last mile payment platform which eliminates the risks associated with carrying cash. Eazzy 247 Akokanya is an instant-opening account which can be self-boarded via an app or USSD. Customers can use it to shop and pay utility bills, and the app version allows the possibility of instant loans through Eazzy Loan. Equity Bank Rwanda on Wednesday unveiled its new brand identity as part of Equity Group Holdings Plc transformation which will see them diversify beyond banking operations. The rebranded outfit will venture into other sectors beyond banking. The group is rolling out insurance services starting with brokerage and will soon commence full insurance services. Equity hopes to use their expansive branch network and agency network to increase countrywide access of insurance services. Equity Group recently crossed the $10 billion balance sheet mark becoming the first bank in Eastern and Central Africa to cross this mark. This new capacity Namara said has increased capacity to support clients as well as increase investments consequently driving growth.
