How to Check if a Sacco Is Licensed by SASRA

Updated 17 October 2026

Saccos hold billions of shillings of members’ savings, and the safest ones are supervised by the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA). You can confirm a Sacco’s status in seconds with the checker above, which searches SASRA’s list for the financial year ending 31 December 2026, dated 3 February 2026. This guide explains what each category on the list means and what to do if your Sacco is missing.

How SASRA Licensing Works

Under the Sacco Societies Act, a Sacco that takes withdrawable deposits, the kind you can save and withdraw through a front office service activity (FOSA), must hold a deposit-taking licence from SASRA. Licences run for one calendar year, so SASRA publishes a fresh list each year. Since the Sacco Societies (Non-Deposit-Taking Business) Regulations 2020, some non-deposit-taking Saccos also need SASRA authorisation to run their back office service activity (BOSA), where members build non-withdrawable deposits that back their loans.

What Each Category Means

• Schedule I, deposit-taking: 176 Saccos licensed to take deposits from 1 January to 31 December 2026. These can run FOSA savings accounts.
• Schedule II, non-deposit-taking (BOSA only): 176 Saccos authorised to run BOSA business only. They cannot offer withdrawable savings accounts.
• Schedule III, restricted to credit-only: five Saccos issued with conditionally restricted licences. SASRA says they are strictly prohibited from taking new or further deposits from members in 2026.
• Schedule IV: one Sacco that ceased business after a voluntary merger.
• Schedule V: one Sacco whose authorisation expired and was automatically revoked.

The checker shows the schedule and a plain explanation for every result, and flags the Schedule III, IV and V entries with a warning.

How to Check Your Sacco

1. Open the “Saccos (SASRA)” tab in the checker.
2. Type one distinctive word from the Sacco’s name, such as “Stima” or “Mwalimu”. Words like “Sacco”, “Society” and “Ltd” are ignored, so you do not need the full official name.
3. Read the status and the county shown, and make sure it is the Sacco you mean. Several Saccos share similar names.

If Your Sacco Is Not on the List

Thousands of Saccos are registered in Kenya, but only a few hundred are on SASRA’s list. Smaller Saccos that do not take withdrawable deposits are supervised by the Commissioner for Co-operative Development and county co-operative offices instead. A Sacco missing from SASRA’s list is therefore not necessarily illegal, but it is not under SASRA’s prudential supervision. Ask to see its registration certificate and latest audited accounts. Be very cautious if a Sacco not on the deposit-taking list offers you a savings account you can withdraw from at will, because only Schedule I Saccos may do that.

Other Checks Before You Join

• Ask for the latest audited financial statements and the dividend and interest paid on deposits in recent years.
• Read the by-laws on how long it takes to withdraw your deposits when you leave.
• Compare loan rates and loan-to-deposit multiples with other Saccos in your sector.

If your employer uses check-off, our Sacco loan calculators show what you can borrow. For help setting up a website or digital records for a Sacco or small business, Ananke Digital builds sites for Kenyan organisations.

Related Pages

• SASRA licensed Saccos list
• Functions of SASRA
• Lender and Sacco licence checker