FINA BANK BACKGROUND

Fina Bank was originally incorporated as a Non Bank Financial Institution (NBFI) on 15th January 1986. It was then known as “Finance International limited”, a name that was later changed to “The Finance Institution of Africa”. The original owners were the Francis Da Gama Rose family – a group with diversified business interests in East Africa.

On 15th August 1991, Mr Dhanu Hansraj Chandaria (a successful entrepreneur in the manufacturing sector) together with a group of professional shareholders, took control of The Finance Institution of Africa and put it on a new growth path. Since the Company was already well-know as “FINA”, the new owners changed its registered trading name to Fina.

In 1995 the banking laws in Kenya were changed and NFBIs were required to convert into fully-fledged commercial banks or close down. Fina was among the first institutions to seize the opportunity and thus “Fina Bank Limited” (FBL) was born on 14th February 1996. It immediately started providing full banking services.

The company is now shifting from being a small respected financial institution largely serving one community, to a focused medium sized commercial bank with a strong developmental emphasis especially in the rural areas. It aims to serve the entire SME sector of Kenya and the East African region. This sector is currently “under-banked” and therefore presents an excellent opportunity for growth.