Factors Influencing the Settlement of Foreign Accounts in Standard Chartered Bank of Kenya Limited

Abstract

Settlement of foreign accounts is the process of transferring monies from one country to another with an objective of settling a debt, purchasing products, lending of monies and for investment purposes Frankel and Rose (2002). Banks operate in a given environment, in this environment they face different challenges, hence the need to operate efficiently and effectively in order to make profits. Settlement of foreign accounts or International settlement is one of the areas that most of the Kenyan banks have ventured into, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) being one of the oldest international banks in Kenya have strived to maintain this as the leading core business. The study is on factors influencing settlement of foreign accounts. The objectives of this study were to establish the factors that influence the settlement of foreign accounts and to examine the challenges faced when settling these accounts. The research was conducted through a case study which involved interviews with the Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) senior managers. Out of the sample target of the 5 senior managers, 4 of them were interviewed thus representing 80 % of the sample target. The data was analysed through content analysis. Finding from the study indicates that indeed technology, exchange rate, interbank linkages and knowledge of the customers do influence the settlement of the foreign accounts. The bank faces many challenges when settling these accounts, the unpredictable market forces that trigger the exchange rates, the security of transferring monies from one customer to another.The study suffered a major limitation as it was conducted solely on Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and hence did not take into account other commercial banks in Kenya. This was due to limitation of time and resources. The researcher suggest that similar study to be carried out in other commercial banks and also to establish other factors other than the ones covered in the study