How Equity Bank Ruined the Mattress Business.

Dogs are known for their acute sense of smell. Dogs are also very good at saving, I am sure you don’t get why I say dogs are good at saving. Let me put it this way, you have seen dogs bury a bone, basically what the dog is doing is saving for a rainy day or maybe the dog is trying to grow meat. They say that necessity is the mother of invention and that imitation is the best form of flattery. After thousands of years of watching dogs save food under the soil man decided it would also be prudent to bury his money for security and there was born the first form of banking. Unfortunately man does not have a good sense of smell and a lot of time man would not find his money’s grave or somebody else found it. To solve this problem man discovered that he could hide his money where he slept, there came in the mattress.

 Let me put it this way, you have seen dogs bury a bone, basically what the dog is doing is saving for a rainy day or maybe the dog is trying to grow meat...After thousands of years of watching dogs save food under the soil man decided it would also be prudent to bury his money for security and there was born the first form of banking. Unfortunately man does not have a good sense of smell and a lot of time man would not find his money’s "grave" or somebody else found it.

For a long time people saved their money in their mattresses. Unfortunately, men share their beds a lot of the time, especially with women. Women tend to find things that men hide, things like money, pornography and even side dishes. Back then mattresses never used to last as people made all manner of holes in them to save money and believe me; a lot of money was stuffed away in beds. A lot of times things disappeared in the mattresses because of “bedbugs”, you know what I mean.

Finally there was an answer to all these problems, Equity Bank. There it was a bank for the masses of mattress savers. This brought a lot of distress to mattress manufacturers like Bobmill, Supafoam and Vitafoam.

Equity bank had dared to do what nobody else in the banking industry had dared to do. Equity bank ventured to bank those who other banks thought were unviable. When every other bank was rushing to the big urban centers, Equity bank was opening branches in rural shopping centers. Equity was going for those nobody else wanted. Equity set out on a noble venture to give every Kenyan a Bank account. They waived charges, they remained open when other banks closed for lunch, and they closed at 5pm when everybody else closed at 3 pm. Equity bank opened on Saturday when every other bank was closed. This made them different and because of this they won people over.

Equity empowered the small Kenyan in a way he had never been empowered before. For the first time ever the small Kenyan could get a small loan for their business. Equity bank gave the small enterprise a chance to thrive. Equity bank changed the banking industry for good. Today No bank closes during lunch hour. Today no bank closes on Saturday. Thanks to Equity banks like Barclays have opened doors to even the small Kenyan who was once shunned at Barclays. Equity bank is a Kenyan success story that has won critical acclaim world all over. To me James Mwangi is a hero. James Mwangi has been feted world all over. His achievements have been spectacular.

Equity bank is proof of how enterprises can change lives. Equity made it possible for millions to get a service that had long been a preserve of the affluent. Equity bank has shown that it is possible for Kenyans to aspire and to attain. Equity bank is proof that world class success is possible in Kenya. Equity is in the same breadth with companies like Toyota that made it possible for the masses to get high quality vehicles at reasonably fair prices. Equity is at the same level with companies like Apple which made it possible for individuals to experience computers in their homes. Equity is like Netscape which made it possible for ordinary people to use the internet. Equity bank is a testimony of innovation, a beacon of commitment and an epicenter of diligence. I am proud to be a client of Equity bank because it’s Kenyan. It is my most admired company in Kenya.