Equity Group is betting heavily that artificial intelligence will define the future of banking. The lender has revealed that 98.2% of all transactions now happen outside physical branches.
Equity has invested heavily in digital infrastructure for years and is now building on that foundation by embedding AI across its core operations.
According to Group CEO James Mwangi, the move toward AI is driven by customers themselves.
“The digitisation we are seeing is not led by the institution, it is led by customers, and you can clearly see that in the channels they are choosing to transact on.”
The bank is transitioning from an IT-led model to an AI-first organisation with mobile, agency banking, merchant payments and ATM usage dominating activity. Intelligence is currently embedded in customer engagement, risk management and operational decision-making.
This has helped shift to a leaner, more scalable banking model that has led to reduced reliance on physical branches while improving efficiency.
Equitel is at the centre of this giving users access to financial services without internet connectivity.
Equity’s AI is approaching AI beyond just the technology and extends it to its workforce. The bank has partnered with Huawei ICT Academy to train and certify over 7,300 employees (62% of staff) in generative AI.
The bank has also made AI training mandatory and has plans to scale advanced capabilities even further.
At the moment, 53 of its employees have been enrolled at WorldQuant University where they are pursuing Master’s degrees in financial engineering.
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Also Read: Equity Bank Named Africa’s Strongest Banking Brand