KCB Group Fires 60 Staff as Kenya Bank Fraud Drops

In Short

• Kenya’s largest lender by assets, KCB Group, dismissed 60 employees for fraud in 2025.
• This was up from 34 dismissals in 2024.
• Reported fraud incidents fell by over 40%, and fraud and forgery losses dropped to KES 760,000.

What Happened

KCB Group says it fired 60 employees in 2025 after linking them to fraud schemes that targeted both the bank and its customers. The figure nearly doubled from 34 staff dismissed in 2024, according to the bank’s 2025 sustainability report.

The bank also reported a sharp drop in overall fraud activity. Reported fraud incidents fell from 339 in 2024 to 201 in 2025. That is a decline of more than 40%.

Losses from fraud and forgery fell to KES 760,000 in 2025, down from KES 4.5 million a year earlier. KCB also said the value of attempted fraud it blocked dropped to KES 141.1 million, down from KES 212.9 million in 2024.

KCB pointed to stronger security and onboarding checks. It listed biometric authentication, which uses fingerprints or face data, document verification, selfie matching, and enhanced digital onboarding. Digital onboarding is the process of opening and verifying an account online instead of in a branch.

Why It Matters

The combination of higher staff dismissals and lower fraud losses suggests banks are getting stricter about insider risk. Insider fraud is wrongdoing that involves employees or contractors who already have access to systems and customer data.

For customers and fintech partners, tighter controls can reduce account takeovers and fake account creation. For banks, better detection tools can lower losses and improve compliance with regulators, especially as more services move to mobile and online channels.