Absa Kenya automated 71% of processes after $31 million tech spend

Absa Bank Kenya, one of the country’s largest commercial banks, said a KES 4 billion ($31 million) technology investment helped automate 71% of its processes in 2025, as nearly all customer transactions shifted to digital channels.

The lender said 94% of customer transactions were completed through digital and alternative channels in 2025, according to its sustainability report. The figures show how Kenya’s largest banks are using automation, cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence to reduce costs as routine banking moves away from physical branches.

I&M Bank said 98% of its transactions were completed through digital channels in 2025, while Equity, KCB and Co-Operative Bank have each reported that more than 90% of transactions now take place outside physical branches. 

That shift is changing where banks direct their technology spending. Investments that once focused on mobile and internet banking are now flowing into cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and data systems. 

Absa said its KES 4 billion ($31 million) technology investment funded cloud modernisation, robotics automation, machine learning, and network infrastructure, expanding the systems that support digital banking, fraud controls, and internal operations. 

“Automation and process optimisation helped maintain a cost-to-income ratio of 37%,” the bank said in the report. 

The lender plans to spend between KES 2 billion ($15.5 million) and KES 3 billion ($23.3 million) annually on technology, former CEO Abdi Mohamed said in April. That spending will sustain a technology programme that has become central to how Absa controls costs as growth in its traditional banking business remains modest.

Profit after tax rose 10% to KES 22.9 billion ($178 million) in 2025, even as loans and…