BY MWANAHABARI REPORTER
Not many Kenyans know just how much they pay monthly or yearly to run a bank account in Kenya.
According to a 2019 study by advocacy firm Financial Sector Deepening Kenya (FSD Kenya), the cost of running a bank account in Kenya will cost one between Sh845 and Sh17,750 annually.
Many Kenyans however – have no idea that they actually pay money to hold those bank accounts at their lender of choice – which explains why you will find some holding up to four bank accounts.
“The line between pay-as-you-go accounts and flat-fee accounts is blurred as some pay-as-you-go accounts charge a monthly ledger fee,” said FSD.
Adding: “Some flat fee accounts charge customers per transaction fees such as withdrawal and transfer fees.”
On average each Kenyan with a bank account spends an average of Sh3,944 on withdrawal charges, Sh4,485 on bank transfers and Sh1,007 on account maintenance fees every year.
This means that banks benefit a lot when an individual holds multiple bank accounts… because they make more money from a single customer.
However, the number of Kenyans holding multiple accounts has reduced significantly in the last year.
The drop according to experts, could be attributed to the pandemic that has heart individual incomes.
According to a survey done by Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) 62 percent of customers had more than one bank account in 2021, down from 77 percent in 2020.
KBA said: “In 2021, at least 6 out of every 10 Kenyans (62 percent) had two to three bank accounts, lower than the nearly eight out of 10 (77 percent) observed in 2020.”
Of importance to note is the fact that each bank account incurs operating costs such as transaction fees, monthly and annual charges.