KENYAN BANK ACCOUNTS

As part of the visa process, once it is all approved, is I need to have a bond sitting in a Kenyan bank account.  Apparently I can open an overseas account here, but it can take a long time, or I can deposit the money with a securities firm for the function of having the 100,000KSH (1200AUD) in an account.  As I am becoming Kenyan, I may just as well open my own account, as I am sure it will come in handy down the track for payments and I am happy to do so.  What a lot of people do when they need to have this deposit is that they open the account, get the statement required for the visa application and then when it is approved withdraw the money, but I don’t think I will do that as it may come in handy to have a schilling back account should I need to send or obtain money if I can’t from my Australian accounts. 

There are A LOT of banks in Kenya, and I mean a lot.  I Googled it and there are 42 different banks, this number also includes foreign banks like HSBC and Barclays, but my word how on earth do you choose where to open an account.  Well that decision was made easy for me with a local branch of a bank called The Co-Operative Bank Kenya here in my town of Ruaka.  My rent is paid in an account at this particular bank on a monthly basis and for the ease and convenience; I am just going to use this bank and branch.  I looked the bank up online and the type of accounts they offered to make sure I had all the documents that I would need to open the account.  I was happy selecting the Co-Op bank as it is one of the commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya, the national banking regulator and the bank has the second highest customer base in Kenya with over 3.2 million accounts as of December 2012. In 2010, the bank was awarded 'Best Bank of Kenya' by the Financial Times of London due to their excellent growth. Who am I to argue with that and Steve picked me up at 11.30am to take me to the bank before heading to Village Market for my grocery shopping.   

There is always a queue at my local branch of the Co-Op, so I am always prepared to wait at least 10-15 minutes in line as the 3 tellers they have process the line in front of me.  I have never seen another mzungu in the branch ever, well the 5 times I have been and I always get a few curious stares which I am getting used to.  I wanted to deposit my rent money first and then enquire about opening the account.  Once I had made my deposit I walked to the ‘enquires’ desk and asked about opening an account and the lady said I would have to wait for her co-worker to finish and asked to wait.  I checked with ‘enquiries’ what requirements I needed and she said a passport if it is current and that was it.  Well that seems easy enough.  As I sat there waiting the security guard came over and asked what I wanted to do and when I mentioned I wanted to open an account he asked if he could get me the form to start filling it in.  What a great and smart idea, and this was the security guard asking me and not the ‘enquiries’ lady I had just spoken to-go figure.  There were 2 people in front of me and 25 minutes later it was my turn.  I told the ‘accounts’ lady what I wanted to do and she said that I need to have a Kenyan passport (no), a Kenyan ID card (nup), a letter from my employer (nada) or a visa (nilch).  The point of me opening the account is to be able to deposit a security bond to complete the visa process-so I can see a vicious circle happening here.  Again I find myself in the boat of being in an unusual situation moving to a country where 95% of foreign people are here for work.  So the ‘accounts’ lady was helpful, and firstly directed me into their head office branch in town and said they ‘should’ be able to help-bit I wasn’t going to pay 4000KSH (45AUD) for taxi to find out they would not, so she made a phone call, spoke to 3 people and then got cut off, so her second round of advice was to try the Commercial Bank of Africa, contact my Australian High Commission here and see if they could recommend a bank or just ask around-particular the international banks here as their requirements may be different from Co-Op.  The weren’t bad suggestions, but I was a tiny bit annoyed that I had checked with ‘enquiries’ and she said they could open an account, I wait for 35 minutes and then ‘accounts’ said no.  I guess that is why the ‘enquiry lady’ is in ‘enquiries’ and not accounts.

I was off to Village Market next and there are 3 banks that I know of there, so I would ask all three and see if they would open a Kenyan account with an Australian passport.  I use the Barclays Kenya ATM all the time, so this seemed the logical point to start.  I walked into the branch to the ‘enquiries’ counter and asked if they would open a Kenyan account with an Australian passport, which I was told yes and to wait over at the Accounts desk.  I wasn’t too hopeful at this stage, so I took a seat and only had to wait 10 minutes before I was served by a lady and when I asked her about opening an account, she said no problems at all.  She took a copy of my passport, I had to supply a passport photo and then a form was filled in.  When we go to what type of account, I said one that would provide me internet banking, a keycard and a low account keeping fee.  Very smartly the consultant waged into their extended hours at their particular branch, which they are open 7 days a week and I was told that the Village Market branch is a Prestige Members branch that only accounts that are opened there can be transacted on.  If I opened an account, say at Westgate, I would be able to use this branch-it was members only.  When I asked about the account keeping fees, I should have known that a service like that would not be free-longer branch hours and premium service and the monthly fee was 1150KSH a month (13.85AUD) and there was no way I was going to pay that a month.  So I asked about their other accounts and the fees went down to 650KSH (7.83AUD) and the only other account that a mzungu could open was at 400KSH (4.81AUD) a month.  The downside to the last 2 accounts is that I am not allowed to use the Village Market branch AT ALL-as I am not paying for their fancy hours and that the transaction fees would not be free on those accounts and cost 30KSH (.36c) a pop whether you withdraw or deposit-that I could handle and she could open the account for me (which would be around Wednesday) and then I could go and collect my card from the nearest branch at Muthiaga, which is around a 10 minute drive away at the end of the week.  Technically I won’t be using the account that much, and after my visa is issued I will work out whether to keep the account or not.  The bonus to having a Barclays Kenya account is that it has the Visa facility on it, whether I am not sure that Co-Op have that (being a Kenyan Bank) and for the additional 200KSH (2.40AUD) of what I am paying at Barclays than Co-Op with my travelling it may just be worth the cost.  With the knowledge that Barclays has operated in Kenya for over 90 years with an extensive network of 117 outlets with over 230 ATMs spread across the country and with a reputation as one of the leading blue chip companies on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, I think my money will be in safe hands. 

So TIK-I got an account for my visa and after my initial thoughts walking out of the Co-Op Bank it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be.  Really each bank has its own rules and regulations and I am just lucky I stumbled onto Barclays Kenya as my second choice.  When I had left Barclays I remembered I needed to get a bankers cheque for my appointment tomorrow with my Immigration Advisor and I forgot to ask my Barclays Consultant, but then I felt I couldn’t walk back in and ask as I had told her I didn’t need the ‘premium hours and service’ and I would feel bad heading back in asking for more service.  I knew there was a place across from the internet café that GG had shown me a few months ago, so I headed there and saw that it was an actual bank called Imperial Bank, I probably should have enquired with all 3 banks before signing with Barclays, but then I may lose the ‘international’ access, so I need remind myself I now have an account and I walked in their just to ask if they did bankers cheques.  She asked if I had an account with them, which I said not, and after checking with a supervisor, she said they could issue the cheque for me.  The fee for the cheque was 750KSH (9AUD) and after being asked to take a seat, 10 minutes later she came over to me with my receipt for the cash paid, the cheque with an envelope to put it in, a copy of the cheque for my files and my change.  She was so helpful and maybe I should have asked about an account there, as it was a smaller branch, but again I had already got an account and there was no point wasting her time.  But I do have to mention their company slogan ‘looking after your interest’.  Pretty catchy for a bank don’t you think?!

So I got 2 important things done, well five actually, for my Immigration Advisor appointment for tomorrow.  I got the bankers cheque for the Immigration Office submission fee, I got a Kenyan bank account, I printed my cover letter to accompany my K class visa application, my bank statements and my deposit for the IA company that will be representing me.  So I am now all ready to lodge my application tomorrow and I am a little excited and a little apprehensive about what is probably the most important paperwork and process I will have to do here in Kenya. 

Wish me luck people and let’s see what happens in the next 4 weeks.