Fiona Fifi

Discuss the major forms account products offered by Commercial Banks in Kenya citing their strengths and weakness

A bank is a financial institution and a financial intermediary that accepts deposits and channels those deposits into lending activities, either directly by loaning or indirectly through capital markets. A bank connects customers that have capital deficits to customers with capital surpluses.

Due to their influence within a financial system and an economy, banks are generally highly regulated in most countries. Most banks operate under a fractional reserve system known as fractional reserve banking where they hold only a small reserve of the funds deposited and lend out the rest for profit. They are generally subject to minimum capital requirements which are based on an international set of capital standards.

A banker is a person who carries on the business of banking, which includes:

i. collecting cheques for his/her customers

ii. Conducting current accounts for his customers,

iii. paying cheques drawn on him/her

A commercial or business bank is a type of financial institution and intermediary. It is a bank that lends money and provides transactional, savings, and money market accounts and that accepts time deposits.

Kenya has a reasonably sophisticated banking system. Commercial banks account for much of the total deposit in the country. The banks that dominate the commercial banking system in Kenya are: In Kenya, there are a number of established commercial banks which include

i. Barclays Bank

ii. Kenya Commercial Bank

iii. Standard Chartered Bank

iv. Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA)

v. The National Bank of Kenya Ltd

vi. Cooperative Bank of Kenya

Facilities offered by Kenya Commercial Banks include the following:

1. Money telegraphic transfer by mail.

2. Standing order payments.

3. Foreign exchange transactions services.

4. Issue of traveller’s cheques.

5. Discounting of bills of exchange and...