Absa Bank Kenya and Co-operative Bank of Kenya led listed lenders in pre-tax earnings generated from bancassurance in the first half of the year ended June 2026 as banks deepened their push into insurance.
Latest disclosures show Absa generated Sh1.1 billion in pre-tax profit from the business, up eight percent from Sh1.02 billion a year earlier. Co-op Bank followed with Sh812.7 million, representing a three percent increase from Sh789 million.
Bancassurance is a strategic partnership between banks and insurance firms that enables insurers to market and sell their products through banks’ customer networks.
During the review period, I&M Group recorded the third-highest earnings at Sh425 million, up 56 percent from Sh272.4 million. However, KCB Group bucked the trend as its pre-tax earnings retreated by 47 percent to Sh336 million from Sh634 million.
“Bancassurance performance continues to gain traction, driven by sustained growth from the traditional client segment and increasing penetration of the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises market frontier,” said I&M during the release of half-year results.
Insurers ride on banks’ infrastructure, customers and data while banks share in the revenue, giving them a chance to diversify their revenue streams beyond the traditional business of lending without having to put their capital on the line.
South Africa’s Absa Group recently announced plans to divest its stakes from Absa Life Kenya and First Assurance and redirect its efforts to the bancassurance model through Absa Bank Kenya. The move looks set to strengthen its market leadership in bancassurance.
Diamond Trust Bank’s pre-tax profit from bancassurance increased 10 percent to Sh212 million from Sh192.7 million, while Family Bank recorded a one percent decline to Sh172 million.
NCBA Group posted one of the fastest jumps among the larger lenders, with pre-tax profit rising 68 percent to Sh135 million from Sh80.4 million. Stanbic Holdings profit from bancassurance grew 17 percent to Sh84 million.
HFCB recorded the fastest growth among the listed banks, with earnings more than doubling to Sh80 million from Sh34.3 million.
The performance highlights the growing importance of bancassurance as banks seek to diversify income beyond traditional lending, while some lenders are increasingly pursuing direct investments and subsidiaries in insurance.
This shift could partly explain the declines recorded by Equity Group, whose bancassurance earnings fell by 53 percent to Sh160 million from Sh340.4 million as it redirects business to its general, life and health insurance businesses to capture all the insurance income rather than sharing it with rivals.
Lenders ride on their corporate, retail and small business customer bases to cross-sell insurance products.
Group credit life has remained an easy entry point for banks because borrowers can be signed up for cover alongside loans. Banks also have an advantage in motor insurance, where they can identify customers financing vehicle purchases and offer insurance alongside asset financing.
Premium financing provides another advantage, allowing banks to use their lending infrastructure to finance insurance premiums.
The Insurance Regulatory Authority has encouraged the expansion of bancassurance as part of efforts to deepen Kenya’s insurance penetration, which stood at 2.43 percent in 2025.
Currently, at least 17 banks are licensed to undertake the business through bancassurance intermediary subsidiaries.
Besides the listed banks, the market has also attracted mid-tier and small lenders such as Credit Bank, SBM Bank, Kingdom Bank, National Bank of Kenya, Prime Bank and Sidian Bank. Microfinance banks like Caritas, Faulu, Rafiki and SMEP are also licensed to undertake the business.
The Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI) published data in 2024 showing the value of insurance business underwritten through bancassurance grew by 13.3 percent to Sh35 billion in the year ended December 2023, taking its share in the insurance industry’s business to 10 percent.
At Sh35 billion, the bancassurance business had grown by 79.5 percent over the five years to 2024, given that it was at Sh19.5 billion in 2019 when it contributed 8.43 percent of the industry’s gross written premium.
The AKI report showed 21 out of 24 bancassurance intermediaries reported increases in premiums between 2019 and 2023, with nine intermediaries more than doubling their premiums during this period.
Bancassurance business had stalled but the streamlining of regulations between 2021 and 2022 has encouraged more partnerships between banks and insurers.
Bancassurance jobs have been one of the new openings in the banking and insurance sectors over the past two years as firms strengthen their offerings. The new hiring has been under titles such as bancassurance sales managers, officers, operation officers, sales representatives, sales officers and sales coordinators.
