• Brand refresh is geared towards positioning the brand to empower individuals, businesses and the community to meet their ever evolving expectations in their financial journey

Kigali, Rwanda 30th December 2020… Equity Rwanda, has today unveiled a refreshed identity aimed at creating sustainable growth paths and service delivery in today’s rapidly evolving financial services environment. The new identity is in line with Equity Group Holdings ongoing journey of transformation.

Going forward, Equity Rwanda will present itself as a unified brand, with one basket of products and services under one roof. From an identity perspective, the new logo now features “Equity” without an entity name such as Bank to signify a one-stop shop and a consolidated business model for its inclusive range of financial services.

Commenting on the launch of the new identity, the Managing Director Equity Rwanda, Hannington Namara said that the new look comes with a reinforced commitment to offering innovative products and services. Equity will roll out its refreshed look in all physical outlets and digital banking platforms, social media assets, websites, mobile applications, mobile banking platform, business online banking and ATM screens.

“From today, you will see the new look signage in all our branches, as part of our transformation program,” he said. He further committed to offering seamless customer experience as the bank looks to grow its customer base. “We are a customer-centric and inclusive institution. Our purpose is to transform lives, give dignity and expand opportunities for wealth creation. We will continue to listen to our customers so that we can develop products and services that support them to achieve their dreams and aspirations,” added Mr. Namara.

Equity Group Holdings Plc CEO and Managing Director Dr. James Mwangi noted, “The operating environment has changed, with the most dramatic shift being customers’ changing needs and aspirations in line with the changing lifestyle brought about by technological advancements. Additionally, the market demographics are embracing youth-targeted products and services and becoming more mobile and digital. As a result, customers are increasingly showing preference for self-service banking, making banking something you do, and not somewhere you go. As a result, Equity will continue to innovate and self-disrupt its offerings to meet the current and future needs of customers.”

“The refreshed brand identity reflects the future we envision, one which communicates our global capability, strong heritage, innovative culture and agile business model that will carry and give the brand momentum to scale its strengths across Africa and the world,” Dr Mwangi added.

Equity maintains that the fresh identity matches the new realities, business model, customer segments and preferences and the evolving digital space; enabling it to focus on key areas that will see it remain relevant to the diverse and current consumer needs. This, it adds, will be achieved through spurring economic growth by empowering consumers; businesses and enterprises through innovative solutions, infusing digital capabilities at all touchpoints, while nurturing existing and building new relationships.

The most significant shift in direction of the brand regionally is the introduction of ONE Equity, a unified brand. From a logo and identity perspective, the logo features “Equity” without entity names such as Bank, Insurance, Investment Bank and so on. Going forward, Equity will now present itself to the world as one unified brand, with one basket of products and services under one roof ranging from banking, insurance and investment from a service delivery perspective.

The bank will continue investing and working for the great causes in the country such as offering financial literacy and access, supporting the SME and corporate sector and developing digital innovations.

“We are proud of Equity’s legacy and the role it has played and continues to play in the growth and prosperity of the people in the countries where we operate. But we also know we need our brand to reflect the Bank of the future, one which communicates our strengths and vision of an even stronger financial services provider and our value proposition to everyone we serve,” added Dr. Mwangi.

In a bid to unlock new opportunities within the growing digital banking space in Rwanda, Equity will continue to focus on operational efficiencies. This will be driven through innovations and re-engineering of the value chain by enabling customers to interact with the bank on self-service channels of mobile and internet devices or on the 3rd party low variable cost infrastructure.

The roll-out of the new identity started in Kenya. Rwanda is the fifth market in the region to rebrand.

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About Equity Bank Rwanda
Equity Bank Rwanda began its operations in 2011 and is registered as a commercial bank by the National Bank of Rwanda. The Bank has its Head Office located in Kigali, with a foot-print of 14 branches and is supported by 1503 agents, 1074 merchants and a network of 21 ATMs.

Equity Bank Rwanda is a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc, a financial services company listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Uganda Securities Exchange, and Rwanda Stock Exchange. In addition to Equity Bank Rwanda, the Group has banking subsidiaries in, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, DRC, and a Commercial Representative Office in Ethiopia; with additional non-banking subsidiaries engaged in the provision of investment banking, custodial, insurance agency, philanthropy, consulting, and infrastructure services.

Equity Group has an asset base of over USD 10 billion. With over 14.2 million customers, the Group is one of the biggest banks by customer base in the region. The Group has a footprint of 335 branches, 52,742 Agents and 35,386 Merchants and 720 ATMs. The Group is the largest bank in market capitalization in East and Central Africa. The Banker Top 1000 World Banks 2020 ranked Equity Bank 754 overall in its global ranking, 62nd in soundness (Capital Assets to Assets ratio), 55th in terms of Profits on Capital and 20th on Return on Assets. In the same year, Moody’s gave the Bank a global rating of B2 with a negative outlook same as the sovereign rating of the Kenyan government due to the Bank’s strong brand recognition, solid liquidity buffers and resilient funding profile, established domestic franchise and extensive adoption of digital and alternative distribution channels.