How Commercial Banks Inept Policies Helped Savings and Credit Societies to Grow

The year 1997 will always remain an important one in the history of Kenya’s savings and credit cooperative movement. That year commercial banks arrogantly closed out of their banking services, a large number of savings and credit cooperatives (saccos) members by raising their minimum balances and account running expenses way out of the reach of the average Kenyan wage earner. That single action spurred saccos to transform themselves into micro-banks.

The Growing Power of Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies in Kenya

Will savings and credit cooperative societies eventually phase out banks? This is the question that many experts in the banking industry are grappling with as they watch the growing power and spread of savings and credit cooperative societies.

Machakos District Cooperative Union’s Plan to Benefit from Opportunities in Newly Created Counties, Vision 2030

The Machakos District Cooperative Union was dying with heavy debts when Mr. Patrick Katingima took over as the chairman in 1991.

Its most important income generating section, the banking division, had just collapsed and been closed down. The cotton industry had collapsed due to sudden liberalization which made farmers unable to repay their loans from the union and the government had scrapped the statutory 2.5 per cent of total sales contributions made to it by its members.