American Businessman/Traveler opening Personal Bank Account in Kenya

2POSTS

14 years ago

I am an American businessman starting a business in Kenya and will be opening my own personal & business bank account. Is there a preferred personal bank account in Kenya (Barclay, Chase, Commercial Bank of Africa, Equity, etc.), which is best for expats.聽 I know for U.K. expats it helps that Barclays is a U.K. bank, but from what I know there are no American banks here.

Basically, I want to be able to transfer money from my American (TD Bank) checking and saving accounts to my Kenyan bank account with as little frills as possible. I do anticipate transfer fees and all that other stuff, but which bank is most expat friendly.

In addition having a bank in Kenya will allow me to write checks and receive checks and direct deposits and all to my account.

Please inform, thank you so much.

much regards.

The Nairobi expat guide

Comprehensive and free

Read it now

Longonot62 Kenya Advisor

1521POSTS

14 years ago

Hi,

I have banked with Chase Bank (K) and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).聽 With Chase Bank, we have a personal and company account.聽 Chase Bank are very competitive when it comes to forex rates, which would be an advantage when transferring funds from overseas. With KCB, we have only had personal accounts.

I have however, been quite satisfied with the service from both banks.聽 Although I am from the UK, I don't feel that there was a particular advantage or disadvantage involved with going with a UK owned bank - so I didn't.聽 I was more interested in their products, charges and interest rates.聽 KCB is competitive in this respect.

KCB branches can get very busy, leading to a lot of waiting around, but then again I have witnessed the same with other banks.聽 I really can't comment on the 'expat friendliness' of any particular bank.

Chase Bank have tended to offer a more personal service and the branches don't seem to be quite as busy.

Opening an account involved filling an application, producing ID and being introduced by an existing customer, who shuld have done a reference.聽 The first account I opened (KCB) as a visitor, with absolutely no problem at all.聽 The reference was done by a relative.

You should enquire at the bank of your choice about these requirements.聽 Kenya is in the early days of credit reference agencies, so I don't know whet the current procedure is.

occamsrazor Member

13POSTS

14 years ago

There is also Standard Chartered that may be worth considering though I don't have experience

johnnyblackberry Member

2POSTS

14 years ago

Longonot62 wrote:
Hi,

I have banked with Chase Bank (K) and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB).聽 With Chase Bank, we have a personal and company account.聽 Chase Bank are very competitive when it comes to forex rates, which would be an advantage when transferring funds from overseas. With KCB, we have only had personal accounts.

I have however, been quite satisfied with the service from both banks.聽 Although I am from the UK, I don't feel that there was a particular advantage or disadvantage involved with going with a UK owned bank - so I didn't.聽 I was more interested in their products, charges and interest rates.聽 KCB is competitive in this respect.

KCB branches can get very busy, leading to a lot of waiting around, but then again I have witnessed the same with other banks.聽 I really can't comment on the 'expat friendliness' of any particular bank.

Chase Bank have tended to offer a more personal service and the branches don't seem to be quite as busy.

Opening an account involved filling an application, producing ID and being introduced by an existing customer, who shuld have done a reference.聽 The first account I opened (KCB) as a visitor, with absolutely no problem at all.聽 The reference was done by a relative.

You should enquire at the bank of your choice about these requirements.聽 Kenya is in the early days of credit reference agencies, so I don't know whet the current procedure is.

Thank you so much for the reply.聽 You have been very helpful.聽 Though its funny your the first expat I have spoken to who has not referenced Barclays, and especially since you are from the UK.聽 I am curious why you didn't open an account with Barclays instead.

Also, what if you don't have someone to refer you to Chase Bank, does that mean you can't open at account with them?

Thanks on the info about Forex rates.聽 That is very important, because my whole reason for opening an account initially is to be able to write checks in Kenya (for instance in registering my firm, the legal and business fees comes up to over 70,000shs---which is over 700 dollars).聽 There is no way I would carry that amount of money, (even if I was able to get that much out of the ATM.聽 I was procrasinating on opening an account, but the registering of my business has forced me to act.

regards

Longonot62 Kenya Advisor

1521POSTS

14 years ago

We chose to open our first account with KCB, mainly due to the fact that a relative banked with them and their charges were competitive.

We banked with Barclays in the UK and sometimes found their customer services lacking (compared with their desire to make huge profits).聽 Also banked with HSBC in UK, but this bank not represented in Kenya.

I suggest that you go to Chase Bank and ask about their current procedure for opening an account.聽 Have not opened a new account anywhere for a few years and there is a credit reference agency now.聽

Regards