Updated 12 November 2026
The official way to check a licensed microfinance bank in Kenya is to search the Central Bank of Kenya’s microfinance-bank directory, not a shop-front name or a mobile-app listing. The file CBK was still publishing when checked on 12 November 2026 is the Directory of Licenced Microfinance Banks dated February 2026. The PDF is marked “C2: CBK – Official”. Its metadata shows it was created on 5 February 2026. CBK also maintains a directory landing page under Bank Supervision. Later monthly filenames for May to November 2026 were not on the server when checked.
On a count of that official PDF, the list is numbered 1 to 14. This guide does not paste the names. Search the exact legal name. A later official directory would supersede the February 2026 edition. A commercial bank, a digital credit provider or a Sacco is not licensed as a microfinance bank merely because it offers small loans.
On this page
In this guide
What a microfinance-bank licence is
On its Bank Supervision pages, checked on 12 November 2026, CBK lists the Microfinance Act, 2006 among the laws it reviews alongside the Banking Act (Cap 488) and the Central Bank of Kenya Act (Cap 491). Commercial banks are licensed under the Banking Act. Microfinance banks are a separate class of licence. The same pages point to a distinct “directory of licensed microfinance banks”, alongside directories for commercial banks, forex bureaus, credit reference bureaus and digital credit providers.
That is why a licensed microfinance bank in Kenya should be findable on the microfinance-bank PDF, not only on the July 2026 commercial-bank directory. If you are opening an account, taking a loan or sending a deposit, the name on your documents should match a legal name on the official MFB list, or you should have a written explanation from CBK for why it does not.
How to search for a licensed microfinance bank in Kenya
Download the official list of a licensed microfinance bank in Kenya — the February 2026 PDF — 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 contract, the passbook or the app. Try “Microfinance Bank”, “PLC” and “Limited” if the first search fails, then confirm with CBK rather than guessing. Do not stop at a brand or a product name that is shorter than the legal name in the directory.
Each entry in the file we checked typically records a postal address, telephone, email, website, physical address, the date licensed and a branch count. Those fields help you match the institution. A branch count in a February 2026 PDF is not a live branch map, and a website in the directory is not, by itself, proof that a particular URL or phone number on social media belongs to the bank. One entry in this edition, Branch Microfinance Bank Limited, has no licence date printed in the row; do not invent one.
The February 2026 file is three pages. It was still the edition posted on 12 November 2026. Use it as the current official list unless and until CBK replaces it with a later directory.
What the 14 entries include, and what they omit
The official PDF is numbered 1 to 14. That is the complete set of institutions in this edition of the directory of a licensed microfinance bank in Kenya. This guide does not reproduce the 14 names and does not add up their branches. The source for those details is the PDF itself. If the legal name you were given is not one of the 14, do not treat a similar name as a match.
The list also does not say whether an institution is under any special supervisory measure, and it does not rate products or interest rates. A name on the list is official evidence that CBK included that institution in the February 2026 directory. It is not a credit rating, and it is not a finding that a particular agent, shop or WhatsApp number belongs to the bank.
If your documents use an older name, or a name you remember from a previous year, search the current PDF anyway. Directories are replaced from time to time. An institution that appeared in an earlier edition may or may not appear in this one. The February 2026 file is the edition to use until CBK publishes a newer official list.
How this sits with other CBK directories
CBK’s Bank Supervision pages keep the microfinance-bank list separate from the commercial-bank directory and from the list of digital credit providers. A digital lender can be licensed as a DCP, as we have already set out in the CBK licensed digital-lenders list, without being a microfinance bank. A commercial bank is licensed under the Banking Act and appears, if at all, in the commercial-bank directory, not on this 14-name file. Individual product or branch stories, such as our Umba branches guide, are not a substitute for the official licence list.
The same supervision pages also note that a financial institution licensed under the Banking Act or the Microfinance Act is required to submit credit information to credit reference bureaus, and that representative offices of foreign banks are not allowed to conduct banking business. Those facts do not turn a missing MFB name into a licensed bank. If you cannot find a licensed microfinance bank in Kenya of that legal name on the February 2026 list, ask CBK before you pay.
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. Published 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.
When you write, include the exact legal name you were given, the document on which it appears, and the date you searched the February 2026 directory. The official list answers a narrow question: is this name among the 14 institutions in the current Directory of Licenced Microfinance Banks? It does not, on its own, approve a loan or an account.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the official microfinance-bank list?
On centralbank.go.ke, as a PDF titled Directory of Licenced Microfinance Banks, created on 5 February 2026 and still posted when checked on 12 November 2026. That file is the current official list of a licensed microfinance bank in Kenya. Search that file. A later official directory would replace it.
How many licensed microfinance banks are on the list?
The official February 2026 PDF is numbered 1 to 14. That count is for this edition only.
Is a microfinance bank the same as a commercial bank?
No. CBK licenses microfinance banks under the Microfinance Act, 2006, and commercial banks under the Banking Act. They appear on separate official directories.
Does this list include digital credit providers?
No. Digital credit providers have their own CBK directory. A firm can be on that DCP list without being a licensed microfinance bank in Kenya.
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