There is no doubt that Equity bank revolutionized banking and the way customers are treated. It made ordinary men and women believe that they can own bank accounts and they do not need special permission to talk to the manager.
I think it also came at a good time when people wanted hassle-free loans. For many of us who fear giving matrimonial title deeds as collateral, Equity said that even the chicken and the cows qualified as collateral.
But now the bank has moved into the more sophisticated area of e-banking. Many Kenyan banks misunderstand or mislead us to believe that receiving SMS alerts translates to e-banking.
So, being the member I am, I finally got tired of queuing for an hour or taking time to dash to the bank when I can get the same service on the internet. So I applied for e-banking services and filled the form.
The strange part is that after two months, Equity had deducted the annual fee for e-banking but I could not access the service. They had not sent me the password. By the way, the e-banking am talking about is just the one that allows you to check balances online and monitor transactions, I am hoping I will be able to do that.
After making trips to the bank to check on it, it has left me bitter, wondering why Equity is bothering about sophisticated services it can not deliver.
I think it is only fair if the bank stops struggling to offer what it can’t. For the other basic services, the bank has no problem, but for e-banking, I guess the bank should leave it out.
I guess they should say like Safaricom; if you are frustrated, just move on to the next provider!
Ends
So has this been resolved thus far? Your blog is enlightening am learning so many things that I used to know. Lets just say I am unlearning Kenya IT infrastructure all over again, and your commentary is just interesting.
That comment on mobile banking being deduced as e-banking is so true yet so scary. Essentially here is a thought the Western market dropped that e term from all their online transactions. It was such a misleading marketing slander – e-governance, e-bills, e-banking.. blaaargh matope. we just adopted as if we knew what it meant .. well maybe its applicable for us.. electronic banking means you can log onto the internet and find your bank balances.
anyway amazing..
I am onto online business and I thought Equity can offer such services via the internet from abroad. Is there such a possibility?
There is a business ready for sale that l would urgently want to buy but l don’t ve cash.My account with you has not been active since year 2006.l own a two hectares farm resale value at ksh. 650,000/- .Can l present my Title Deed for an urgent loan?
Interesting! Av just downloaded their electronic banking application form. Guess I should not bother after all.
Go ahead Lorna. It works. I have it
Thanks I found this site to say something about KCB. For long,ever since I was a child I liked the bank for its progress and high profits. When I opened an account with them,their employee duped me to have a current account and went ahead to facilitate that instead of the savings(simba a/c) that I wanted.During the process,the banker re-assured me that he had opened a simba a/c while it was a current one something that I didn’t suspect.
Thinking it was a savings a/c, I struggled to deposit ksh24,776 in a five months period.I made two withdrawals of 9,000 and 12000 and I was charged 200 per withdrawal.
I went to the bank a few days ago after they wrote me a message that my a/c would be inactive in thirty days time after which it will accrue interest.My balance was ksh negative 218.
I was pissed up and chose to close the a/c. They wouldn’t allow me;they want me to pay ksh 600 for account closure. I just wonder if this is the way they are making a difference as they claim.
I think I have learnt a lifetime lesson from the sweet service they offered me.If ever I step foot in their branch again! Something is wrong with the banl.
I’m surprised this happened to you. I applied for this service and got everything on the spot i.e. log in and transaction passwords. I’ve been utilizing this service ever since and it hasn’t failed me once. I think the person that served you at your branch didn’t guide you properly. You should be able to get your passwords before leaving the bank and they advise you to change them as soon for confidence purposes. As a matter of fact they require you to change the passwords every 3 months as they are only valid for that time. Please visit your branch as I can assure you that there’s such a service.
Im surprised to see that this issue is still yet to be resolved. Leave alone the whole activation process takes almost 2 months. then when i finally get the login, the equity server is so bad it takes more than 3 minutes for a page to load up. Plus their user interface is just bad. For a company like equity surely this shouldn’t be an issue. I think the IT guys are just sleeping on the job. The bank can borrow some tips and lessons from Commonwealth bank of Australia and they can even beat Mpesa.
i am having problem with equity debit card. it seems like most pdf machines are not accepting our cards. it can be very frustrating at supermarket and hotels help…….