Strategies Adopted by Equity Bank to Gain a Competitive Advantage on Mobile Loan Applications

Abstract

This study’s iobjective iis ito iestablish istrategies iadopted iby iEquity ibank ito igain ia icompetitive iadvantage ion imobile iloan iapplications. iThe istudy iadopted icase istudy idesign iand idata iwas icollected iat iEquity iBank iKenya. Especially the headquarter of the bank at Upper Hill in Nairobi, Kenya. The data was collected using interviews and the interview involved various officers from the bank including the Strategy Managers, Directors and Chief executive officers. These officers are i imore iinvolved i i i iin ipolicy-making i i i iand i i i istrategic i iplanning iin ithe ibank iand ithey iprovided irequired idata ito imeet ithe istudy iobjectives. Data analysis involved the use of Content analysis. This was done to help categorized the study findings in different themes and subjects. The study established that Equity bank mobile loan applications success is due the implementation of different strategies such as aggressive digital marketing, innovation, brand management, cost leadership, segmentation, different and the use of focus strategies which has enabled the firms to gain competitive advantage by focusing on specific market segments and operations thus creating a competitive advantage that matches the core competencies and the opportunities in the industry. The study also found that the use cost leadership strategies enable the Bank to have a lower cost of operation through the efficiency of their operations to create lower prices than those of the competitors. The study concluded that banks should adopt different strategies to have a direction that will enable them to achieve their long-term objectives while meeting the demand of their customers and at the same time reducing the risks and threats from the market environment and taking advantage of the innovation environment in line with the mobile money transfer and transactions. The study recommended the need for banks to adopt strategies such as innovation, cost leadership, focus, and differentiation strategies. This will enhance the firms' competitive edge, increase market share, reduce operation costs, expand the customer base, and increase profitability of the organization as well as improve the organization's overall performance. However, the application of these strategies should focus on attracting, increasing, and retaining the customer base, reducing the cost of the operations, and improving the financial and operational performance of the financial institutions offering mobile loan services.