Updated 12 November 2026
The official way to check a licensed commercial bank in Kenya is to search the Central Bank of Kenya’s published directory, not a social-media page, a mobile-app store listing or a similar trading name. The current file, still posted when checked on 12 November 2026, is the Directory of Licenced Commercial Banks, Mortgage Finance Institutions and Authorised Non-Operating Bank Holding Companies. The PDF is marked “C2: CBK – Official”. Its metadata shows it was created on 28 July 2026 and last modified on 29 July 2026. It is linked from CBK’s Bank Supervision pages, which also point to a directory landing page.
On a count of that official PDF, checked on 12 November 2026, the directory lists 38 commercial banks, one mortgage-finance institution and eight authorised non-operating bank holding companies. This guide does not paste the names. Search the exact legal name, and remember that a holding company, a digital credit provider or a microfinance bank is not the same licence as a commercial bank.
On this page
In this guide
What the official directory covers
On its Bank Supervision pages, CBK says commercial banks and mortgage finance institutions are licensed and regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Banking Act and the regulations and prudential guidelines issued under it. The same pages say those institutions are subject to requirements on their prudential position and market conduct, in order to safeguard the soundness and stability of the financial system. The Banking Act is cited there as Cap 488, alongside the Central Bank of Kenya Act (Cap 491) and the Microfinance Act, 2006, which governs a different class of licence.
The July 2026 directory is therefore a list of institutions CBK has licensed or authorised in the three groups named on its cover: commercial banks; mortgage finance institutions; and authorised non-operating bank holding companies. It is not the register of digital credit providers, already covered in our CBK licensed digital-lenders list, and it is not a test of whether an instalment lender holds a DCP licence, which we have already set out in a separate check.
The Bank Supervision pages also point to other official directories — for microfinance banks, forex bureaus, credit reference bureaus and digital credit providers — and note that representative offices of foreign banks are authorised only for research, marketing and liaison, and are not allowed to conduct banking business. Those other lists are not a substitute for the commercial-bank directory.
How to search for a licensed commercial bank in Kenya
Download the official directory of a licensed commercial bank in Kenya from centralbank.go.ke rather than a republished copy. Open it in a reader and use search (Ctrl+F or Command+F) for the exact legal name on the account opening form, the letterhead or the app. A trading style, a brand or a shortened name may not be the name in the directory. If the first search fails, try the full name including “PLC”, “Limited” or “Bank Kenya”, then confirm with CBK rather than guessing.
Each commercial-bank entry in the file we checked records a postal address, telephone, fax where given, email, website, physical address, the date licensed, a peer group (large, medium or small) and a branch count. Those fields help you match the institution, but a branch count in a July 2026 PDF is not a live branch locator, and a website in the directory is not, by itself, a guarantee that a particular URL or mobile app is genuine.
The file is 19 pages and is still the edition CBK was publishing on 12 November 2026. A later official directory would supersede it. Do not treat an older CBK PDF, or a “full list of banks” on a third-party site, as the current record of a licensed commercial bank in Kenya.
Banks, the mortgage-finance institution and holding companies
Section A of the July 2026 directory is headed “Commercial Banks” and is numbered 1 to 38. That is the section to search if you are asking whether an institution is a licensed commercial bank in Kenya. Section B, “Directory of Licenced Mortgage Finance Institutions”, contains one entry in this edition: HFCB Limited. Section C, “Authorised Non-Operating Bank Holding Companies”, is numbered 1 to 8. Each holding-company entry names a licensed subsidiary. A holding company in Section C is authorised as a holding company; it is not, on that row alone, the licensed bank.
Match the name to the right section. A group PLC in Section C is not the same listing as its licensed bank subsidiary in Section A. A mortgage-finance institution is licensed as such, not as a commercial bank. If the name you were given does not appear in Section A, do not move it into the commercial-bank column on the strength of a similar brand.
This guide does not reproduce the 38 names, does not add up their branches, and does not rank peer groups. The official source for those details is the PDF itself. If an institution is missing, or the legal name on your documents does not match a row, write to CBK with the name you were given before you send money or sign a mandate.
What a listing does not prove
A current row in the official directory is evidence that CBK listed that institution, in that category, in the July 2026 edition. It is not a credit rating, a deposit-insurance explanation, or a finding that a particular product, agent or social-media page belongs to the bank. It does not tell you whether an account is genuine, or whether a person who claims to work for the bank is employed there.
It also does not replace the other official directories. The Bank Supervision pages say a financial institution licensed under the Banking Act or the Microfinance Act must submit credit information to credit reference bureaus, and they maintain a separate directory of those bureaus. They also state that, at the time that page was written, there were no non-bank financial institutions licensed in Kenya under the Banking Act. Use each official list for the licence it actually describes.
If someone offers you “banking” services and you cannot find a licensed commercial bank in Kenya of that name in Section A, or a matching mortgage-finance or holding-company entry in Sections B or C, pause. Confirm the name with CBK. A digital lender, a Sacco, an insurance company or a payment app may be regulated, if at all, under a different statute and a different official list.
Who to contact at CBK
The official contact page, checked on 12 November 2026, says communication to the Central Bank of Kenya should be addressed to Haile Selassie Avenue, P.O. Box 60000-00200, Nairobi, Kenya. The published telephone numbers include +254 20 286 0000, +254 20 286 1000, +254 20 286 3000, +254 709 081 000 and +254 709 083 000. The page also lists comms@centralbank.go.ke. The same page publishes contacts for CBK’s other centres, including Mombasa.
When you write, include the exact legal name you were given, the document on which it appears, and the date you searched the directory. The July 2026 directory answers a narrow official question: is this name listed as a licensed commercial bank, a licensed mortgage-finance institution, or an authorised non-operating bank holding company, in the edition CBK currently publishes? It does not, on its own, approve a transaction.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the official bank list?
On centralbank.go.ke, as a PDF titled Directory of Licenced Commercial Banks, Mortgage Finance Institutions and Authorised Non-Operating Bank Holding Companies, uploaded in July 2026 and still posted when checked on 12 November 2026. That file is the current official list of a licensed commercial bank in Kenya. Search that file, not a secondary copy.
How many licensed commercial banks in Kenya are on the list?
Section A of the official July 2026 PDF is numbered 1 to 38. The same file lists one mortgage-finance institution and eight authorised non-operating bank holding companies. A later official directory would replace those counts.
Is a holding company the same as a licensed bank?
No. Section C lists authorised non-operating bank holding companies and names a licensed subsidiary for each. The licensed bank itself should appear in Section A under its own legal name.
Does this list include digital lenders or microfinance banks?
No. CBK publishes separate official directories for digital credit providers and for microfinance banks. The July 2026 file described here is only the commercial-bank, mortgage-finance and bank-holding-company directory.
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