The Role of Kenya Commercial Bank in Supporting Exporters of Horticultural Goods to Gain Competitive Advantage

Abstract

All commercial transactions such as private and governmental sales, investments, logistics, and transportation, that take place between regions, countries and nations beyond their geographical boundariescomprise what is referred to as International It also includes services such as investments and monetary transactions. Export business is a function of international trade where merchandise manufactured in one nation are dispatched to another country for future sale or trade. Horticulture farming is the cultivation in large scale of vegetables, fruits and flowers for export and local market.. According to Porter (1985), competitive advantage is the capability to earn revenues on ventures steadily above the average for the industry. Kenya Commercial Bank offers several services that favor horticulture farmers giving them competitive advantage. These include branchless banking, which is the delivery of financial services outside conventional bank branches where the customers do not have to walk in the bank to receive services. This study sought to answer the question: What is the role of KCB in supporting Horticulture farmers gain competitive advantage in Kenya? Data was collected using an interview guide that was administered to top tier staff at the Kenya Commercial Bank Central region that comprises of the former Central, Rift Valley and parts of the Eastern Provinces of Kenya. Data collected was analyzed using a qualitative data checklist and for the quantitave data using frequencies, charts and graphs. This study confirmed that KCB through its various initiatives in branchless banking is playing a vital role in giving horticulturists competitive advantage over their rivals. KCB’s branchless banking system is very appreciated by its clients since it offers a high level of convenience. The younger clientele who are not averse to change and those that are fascinated by the changes in the ICT world reported very high uptake levels of these innovations from KCB with a majority of them showing very positive attitude towards branchless banking initiatives with the end result being that many clients including horticulturists have taken up this products. Client’s attitude towards any product directly affects the acceptability of the new innovation in the market and thus with the clients of KCB largely exhibiting a positive attitude towards branchless banking then it is safe to make the assumption that it has been greatly accepted by clients and particularly horticulturists. This could be due to the efforts that have been put in place by the product development teams to make branchless banking initiatives undertaken by KCB very user friendly to all customers. The future of banking lies primarily in branchless banking. This being said all efforts should be made to ensure enhanced security of the branchless banking products to further assure clients of the security of their funds. It emerged from the study that enhanced security features like biometric identification should be incorporated in design particularly in regard to i-banking.