(NAIROBI, KENYA) – The number of Sacco accounts holding deposits above KES 1 million ($8,500 / GBP 6,500) rose 10% to 154,000 last year, even as most savers continued to hold balances below KES 50,000 ($425 / GBP 325), highlighting persistent inequality in Kenya’s savings sector.
Data from the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (Sasra) shows accounts in the high-value category rose from 140,000 in 2024, extending an increase from 98,000 in 2023 and 50,000 in 2019.
The KES 1 million and above accounts made up just 0.81% of the 18.95 million accounts but held KES 319.66 billion ($2.7 billion / GBP 2.1 billion), or 38.38% of the KES 832.8 billion ($7 billion / GBP 5.4 billion) deposits in Saccos under Sasra supervision.
Over the same period, 89.03% of sector accounts, or 16.86 million, held less than KES 50,000, amounting to KES 44.61 billion ($379 million / GBP 289 million), equivalent to 5.36% of total deposits. The number of such accounts grew 17.9% from 14.3 million in 2024.
The disparity in deposits means most Sacco members can qualify for loans of up to KES 200,000 ($1,700 / GBP 1,300), given that loans are typically advanced using a multiplier model of three to four times a member’s savings.
Sasra data shows the number of loan accounts rose 21.9% to 4.17 million last year from 3.42 million in the preceding year, pointing to sustained demand for loans.
Saccos have increasingly become a key source of household and business credit, offering lower lending rates than banks and more flexible borrowing terms, with members able to use their savings and those of colleagues as collateral.
Concentration of large deposits among fewer members means most savers with small balances have less room to leverage their deposits for larger loans, limiting their ability to use Sacco credit for housing, education, agriculture or business expansion.
The number of accounts holding between KES 100,000 and KES 300,000 grew fastest at 23.5% to 761,000, taking the amount held in these accounts to KES 134.35 billion ($1.14 billion / GBP 872 million) from KES 108.91 billion ($925 million / GBP 707 million).
Accounts with between KES 50,000 and KES 100,000 rose 19% to 526,000, with the value rising 16.5% to KES 35.64 billion ($303 million / GBP 231 million). Those with between KES 300,000 and KES 1 million grew 15.1% to 638,000, taking their holdings to KES 298.55 billion ($2.54 billion / GBP 1.94 billion) from KES 284.79 billion ($2.42 billion / GBP 1.85 billion).
Saccos offered an average of 10% as dividend rate on share capital and 6.72% interest on deposits, compared with banks’ 3.64% interest on deposits last year.
“Given that the total membership of the regulated Sacco industry stood at 7.87 million in 2025 [compared with 18.95 million accounts], the analysis implies that on average a member may be operating two or more deposit accounts with their Saccos,” said Sasra.
“This is consistent with the Sacco tradition where a member maintains a non-withdrawable deposit account while at the same time operating a withdrawable deposit account especially for DT-saccos.”
Members’ deposits and savings increased to KES 832.74 billion ($7.07 billion / GBP 5.4 billion) last year from KES 749.43 billion ($6.37 billion / GBP 4.86 billion) recorded in the previous year, as gross loans and advances grew to KES 948.67 billion ($8.06 billion / GBP 6.15 billion) from KES 845.11 billion ($7.18 billion / GBP 5.48 billion). This widened the gap between deposits and loans to KES 115.93 billion ($985 million / GBP 752 million) from KES 95.68 billion ($813 million / GBP 621 million).
The regulator reported that Saccos disbursed KES 596.54 billion ($5.07 billion / GBP 3.87 billion) in loans to eight key economic sectors during the year. Land and housing received KES 157.2 billion ($1.34 billion / GBP 1.02 billion), followed by education at KES 124.51 billion ($1.06 billion / GBP 808 million) and agriculture at KES 110.74 billion ($941 million / GBP 718 million).
Concentration of high-value accounts in few hands mirrors a similar trend in the banking sector.
Central Bank of Kenya data show that bank accounts holding more than KES 500,000 ($4,250 / GBP 3,250) increased 5.7% to 781,977 last year, representing 0.97% of the banking sector’s 80.68 million accounts.
The Saccos regulator is pushing to support sector growth through regulatory reforms such as the introduction of a Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) to protect savers from losses on their deposits, and strengthening supervision.
Kenya’s Sacco Societies Act, passed in 2008, provides for setting up a deposit insurance fund for credit unions, but the scheme has never been established. Sasra started operations in June 2010.
Section 55 of the Sacco Societies Act sets the premise for the establishment of a DGF for the Sacco sector to provide protection for members’ deposits of up to KES 100,000 ($850 / GBP 650), excluding shares, in the event that a society collapses as a result of liquidity challenges or governance failures.
Sasra sees the DGF, a form of deposit insurance scheme, as a key pillar which will further encourage the savings culture within the Sacco system by boosting confidence and trust among savers.
Underwriting Sacco deposits will see credit unions join banks and insurance firms, which have schemes to compensate depositors and policyholders in the event of a financial institution’s collapse.
The Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation compensates savers in banks and deposit-taking micro-financiers up to KES 500,000 ($4,250 / GBP 3,250) immediately after a bank collapses, with the rest dependent on what is recovered later.
The Policyholders Compensation Fund reimburses KES 250,000 ($2,125 / GBP 1,625) per policyholder in the event an insurance company is declared insolvent.
The State is seeking to introduce deposit protection for Saccos through the Sacco Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which proposes to effect the DGF, alongside establishing a Central Liquidity and Shared Services business.
The proposed protection comes against a backdrop of concerns over members’ ability to access their savings when individual Saccos face liquidity problems. Sasra received 886 complaints and enquiries in 2025, with claims for refunds of savings and deposits or share transfers accounting for 425 cases, or 47.97% of all complaints.
“Once implemented, these reforms are expected to enhance depositor protection, improve operational efficiency, enhance service delivery and strengthen the overall stability of the industry,” says Sasra.