The banking sector in Kenya has in the recent past come under beefed scrutiny by stakeholders after some banks ran into financial crisis and were consequently placed on receivership.
The closure of Dubai, Imperial and Chase Banks left many depositors uncertain of the stability of some of the facilities in the industry.
The Central Bank categorises banks into three which are Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier.
These comprise of the old banks, especially those that have been in the market for a long time, accumulating assets worth hundreds of billions of cash and millions of customers, therefore, their possibility of falling into a financial crisis would be near impossible.
There are six banks in this category; Equity Bank, Barclays Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, co-operative, Standard Chartered bank and Commercial Bank of Africa.
The Co-operative Bank, which the London Financial Times named Bank of the Year, has valued assets approximately Sh309 Billion and enjoys a customer base of over 3.4 Million members.
The bank is interconnected that its failure to operate fully would be problematic to the wider economic system, therefore, in case of a financial death; be assured the government will fully save the situation.
In Tier 2, lenders are medium-sized banks; there are about sixteen banks in this group and jointly command 41.7% of the financial market compared to their rivals in Tier one, which collectively control about 50%.
The banks in this category include Diamond Trust Bank, CFC Stanbic, NIC, Chase Bank, I&M, Bank of Africa, Eco bank, Family Bank and Housing Finance.
The third tier is made up of 21 small banks that control 8.4% of the Kenyan market.
The banks here are Paramount Universal, ABC, Credit Bank, Guardian, Fidelity, Charterhouse, Consolidated Jamii Bora, and Development bank.