Nairobi, November 30, 2025 — Credit Bank is hurtling toward a regulatory wall that could end its life by New Year’s Eve. The lender’s half-year losses have jumped by a staggering 43 percent to Sh195 million.
Bad loans have reached catastrophic levels with non-performing credit swallowing an estimated 60 percent of the entire book.
The bank’s core capital has withered to Sh1.23 billion, far below the Central Bank of Kenya’s Sh3 billion minimum that becomes law on December 31.
What once looked like a slow slide has now turned into a ten-day death clock. With the regulator already circling, the bank has called an emergency virtual meeting on December 19 where shareholders will be asked to approve a survival strategy that is beginning to feel more like a last rite.
The proposal seeks to authorise the injection of Sh4.5 billion in new ordinary shares priced at Sh100 each even though the stock trades informally for under Sh30.
It also asks for the creation of Sh3 billion worth of preference shares whose terms will be dictated entirely by the board, a Sh1.5 billion five-year convertible note attracting six percent interest that can be turned into ordinary shares at the bank’s discretion, and a controversial plan to issue twelve million new shares in exchange for a parcel of Upper Hill land whose valuation and ownership trail have already triggered internal protests.
If the cash does not arrive, the Central Bank is expected to degrade the lender’s licence or place it under statutory management.
That single move would choke off all interbank lines and instantly rattle depositors.
Several rival bank chiefs confirm that an exodus has already begun and say high-value clients have quietly shifted hundreds of millions out of Credit Bank in the last three weeks. Staff at the deposit mobilisation desk are said to be making urgent calls to keep accounts alive as the outflow accelerates.
Behind this drama is a wider regulatory storm that has placed Credit Bank at the edge of the cliff. Kenya’s new banking law requires all lenders to hold at least Sh3 billion in core capital by the end of 2025 and to keep increasing that figure until it reaches Sh10 billion in 2029.
More than ten banks remain below the minimum according to industry disclosures and stress tests seen by analysts in recent months.
Here is a clean, publication-ready table you can use as a sidebar. It summarises the banks flagged as under-capitalised in 2025, their estimated capital deficits where available, ownership profile, and their publicly known recapitalisation plans. All information is taken from publicly reported data in Business Daily, The Star, Tuko, and other financial disclosures.
Sidebar: Banks racing to meet CBK’s Sh3bn core-capital deadline
| Bank | Estimated capital deficit (2025) | Ownership | Public recapitalisation plan / status |
| Credit Bank Plc | Approx. Sh1.7bn to Sh1.8bn | Local shareholders, previously linked to political and business elite | Emergency Sh4.5bn rights issue, creation of Sh3bn preference shares, Sh1.5bn convertible note |
| Consolidated Bank of Kenya | Approx. Sh3.7bn (largest shortfall) | State-owned | Government yet to announce injection; potential merger candidate |
| Paramount Bank | Approx. Sh1.3bn | Local private ownership | No disclosed capital plan; on CBK watchlist |
| Middle East Bank Kenya | Approx. Sh1.1bn | Owned by Middle Eastern investors and Kenyan partners | No public plan; expected to seek new investors |
| CIB International Bank Kenya | Approx. Sh800m | Egyptian bank (Commercial International Bank) | Parent bank expected to fund capital gap |
| Premier Bank Kenya | Approx. Sh700m | Somali-owned regional group | Exploring shareholder injection and strategic partner options |
| ABC Bank Kenya (African Banking Corporation) | Approx. Sh600m | Kenyan-owned | Quiet shareholder negotiations underway |
| UBA Kenya Bank | Approx. Sh500m | Nigerian multinational (United Bank for Africa) | Parent bank expected to recapitalise to protect regional footprint |
| Access Bank Kenya | Approx. Sh450m | Nigerian multinational (Access Bank Plc) | Group has signalled willingness to inject capital |
| M-Oriental Bank Kenya | Approx. Sh400m | Japanese-owned (Mizuho Leasing) | Parent expected to recapitalise gradually |
| Development Bank of Kenya (DBK) | Approx. Sh350m | Government and state agencies | Treasury considering merger options under State Corporations Review Taskforce |
The Central Bank has warned publicly that consolidation is inevitable and that weaker lenders must either merge, raise capital or accept the consequences.
Credit Bank now finds itself at the front of that queue.
The bank’s troubles have been years in the making.
Credit quality has deteriorated steadily and the ballooning non-performing loan ratio has placed the institution in the danger zone of the regulator’s watchlist.
Sector analysts say the bank’s capital hole has become too deep to ignore and that the proposed Sh4.5 billion injection is likely the final lifeline.
If it fails, the lender faces the fate that befell other institutions which ignored early warnings, among them Chase Bank and Imperial Bank whose collapses shook the sector and took years to unwind.
Only thirty-one days remain before the Central Bank’s deadline.
For a lender once associated with influential political and business families, the countdown has never been more brutal.
Shareholders now face a bleak decision.
They can inject billions into a wounded bank in the hope of stabilising it one last time, or they can watch as the regulator steps in and the institution is buried before the Christmas lights are taken down.
