KCB Group will acquire a 22.23 percent stake in digital payments service provider Pesapal, as the bank accelerates its push into fintech amid intensifying competition in the payments space.
KCB announced last November that it had signed an agreement to acquire an undisclosed minority stake in Pesapal, which operates in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Zambia.
Tanzania’s competition watchdog, the Fair Competition Commission (FCC), has revealed the stake as it reviews the transaction.
The deal, whose value has not been disclosed, comes amid a separate disclosure in KCB’s latest annual report showing Pesapal owed the lender Sh1.2 billion at the end of December 2025.
“Acquisition by KCB Group Plc of 22.23 percent of the entire issued share capital of Pesapal Limited, resulting in the acquisition of indirect control over Pesapal Tanzania Limited,” says the FCC notice published on August 21.
The deal marks a strategic shift for KCB from being a traditional bank toward becoming a platform-based financial services provider.
The move comes months after KCB’s acquisition of a 75 percent stake in Riverbank Solutions, a Nairobi-based digital payments company that builds revenue collection and payments infrastructure for banks, government agencies, and retailers.
The disclosure from Tanzania has, for the first time, provided the stake size that KCB is seeking in Pesapal.
The acquisition requires competition scrutiny in Tanzania because the purchase of the stake in the Kenyan parent would result in indirect control over Pesalink Tanzania.
Pesapal offers payment and business-management solutions to customers across multiple sectors, including retail, hospitality and travel, petroleum, manufacturing and business-to-business services.
The transaction will bring together KCB’s banking operations and Pesapal’s digital payments business in a deal that the bank reckons will strengthen its digital capabilities and expand services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“Through this transaction, we seek to further build our digital capabilities, leveraging Pesapal’s cutting-edge technology, footprint and agility, enabling customers and SMEs to benefit from simplified, secure, and scalable payment tools,” said Paul Russo, KCB Group CEO, in the annual report.
KCB is already active in Tanzania through KCB Bank Tanzania, its wholly-owned commercial banking subsidiary.
The group first disclosed the planned investment on November 3, 2025, saying the transaction was subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.
The bank said the investment would enable it to leverage Pesapal’s technology, regional footprint and agility while combining payments, financing and business tools to support SMEs.
KCB’s investment in Pesapal is part of a wider push by the banking group to expand its digital and non-traditional financial services capabilities.
The group currently has four non-banking subsidiaries— KCB Bancassurance Intermediary, KCB Investment Bank, KCB Asset Management and Riverbank Solutions.
In 2025, KCB completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Riverbank Solutions, paying Sh1.44 billion to former owners including Nick Mwendwa, who once served as Football Kenya Federation president.
The deal came in the period when KCB disposed of its entire stake in National Bank of Kenya (NBK) to Nigeria’s Access Bank.
Mr Russo said the deals reflected the group’s commitment to increasing focus on core growth markets, and redeploying capital “where returns are strongest” to power growth and reward shareholders.
KCB completed the acquisition of the 75 percent shareholding in Riverbank Solutions on December 19, 2025, but no revenues and profits were consolidated into the group as at year-end.
However, KCB said if the acquisition had occurred at the start of last year, the revenue and loss before tax for the year ended December 31, 2025 would have been Sh248 million and Sh212 million, respectively.
KCB said the acquisition of Riverbank was part of an ongoing strategy to increase innovation in digital MSME offerings, focusing on transaction and payment services, instant digitised lending, provision of business management tools and offering non-banking solutions such as business training.
“The transaction will help the group accelerate its strategy to interconnect with partner platforms and fintechs to offer services such as virtual wallets and payment APIs. This will see KCB consolidate its agency banking channels into one platform,” said KCB.
