By Equity Group said 89.7% of its transactions are now conducted through digital channels, highlighting a shift towards online banking as the Kenyan lender expands technology investment and social impact programmes.
Equity Group Managing Director and Chief Executive James Mwangi said the migration to digital channels had increased the availability and convenience of its services for customers.
“89.7% of our transactions are now happening through digital channels,” Mwangi said in a statement accompanying the group’s Equity Group H1 2026 results.
The figure underscores the growing role of technology in the group’s banking operations. Equity has previously reported that more than 98% of customer transactions were conducted outside branches in 2025, with 88.4% processed through digital channels.
The latest figure represents a further increase in the share of transactions handled digitally, as banks across Kenya invest in mobile banking, online platforms and self-service technologies to reduce reliance on physical branches.
Equity’s H1 2026 presentation also highlighted the group’s social investment and sustainability activities through the Equity Group Foundation, which operates programmes covering education, agriculture, enterprise development, health, social protection, clean energy and environmental conservation.
The foundation said its Wings to Fly and Elimu scholarship programmes have supported 60,009 students. Its education programmes have recorded a 97% secondary-school completion rate, while 82% of graduates have attained university-entry grades, according to figures presented by the group.
The foundation’s programmes also include support for university students, global university placements, paid internships and technical and vocational education and training.
For its 2025 Wings to Fly graduates, the presentation showed 35,353 university scholars, 1,236 global scholars, 10,505 paid internships and 4,039 TVET scholars.
The scholarship programme has been a long-running component of Equity’s social investment strategy. Equity Group Foundation says the Wings to Fly programme was established to provide comprehensive secondary-school scholarships to academically promising students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
The foundation’s cumulative agriculture programmes have reached 3.8 million farmers, while 602,442 farmers and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises have received training, according to the group’s presentation.
Equity Group Foundation says its agriculture programmes are designed to help small-scale farmers access financial services and products while improving production, commercialisation and business capabilities.
The group’s social protection programmes have reached 6 million people, with $1.4 billion disbursed through cash transfers, the presentation showed.
Equity has also reported significant investment in environmental programmes. Its latest presentation showed 48.7 million trees planted and 587,094 clean-energy products distributed.
The group said its enterprise-development programmes had trained 1,027,335 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, with $3.6 billion disbursed under the Equity Group Foundation’s programme across its subsidiaries.
The figures build on Equity’s broader strategy of combining financial services with programmes aimed at expanding access to education, finance, healthcare, agriculture and clean energy.
The foundation’s earlier reporting showed that its agriculture programmes had impacted more than 3.8 million small-scale farmers, while its education initiatives had provided thousands of scholarships and university opportunities.
Equity has also continued to expand its regional banking operations. In its first-quarter 2026 reporting, the group said profit growth across its regional businesses was led by Equity Bank Tanzania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its insurance business also reported higher premiums and profit before tax.
The group’s digital transformation has been a central element of its strategy. In its 2025 full-year results, Equity said continued migration to self-service channels, productivity gains and investment in digital infrastructure had helped improve operating efficiency.
The Equity Group H1 2026 results therefore point to two parallel developments: greater use of digital banking services and continued investment in programmes intended to broaden economic and social inclusion.
Equity Group is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and operates banking businesses across several African markets. Its 2025 full-year results showed the regional subsidiaries contributing about half of the group’s banking profitability.
