SBM Bank closes three branches, to layoff employees

The State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) Kenya is set to layoff part of its employees in a move heavily anchored on the recent digitisation of its operations.

The mid-tier lender has subsequently announced a voluntary employment separation scheme (VESS) which is open to all employees and closes on October 19.

SBM Bank Kenya is a subsidiary of the State Bank of Mauritius and entered into the Kenyan market through the acquisition of a majority stake in Fidelity Commercial Bank Limited.

The lender later curved out the majority of assets in Imperial Bank Limited in Receivership On Thursday last week, the bank announced it would be closing down three branches which will be merged to existing physical hubs.

The move follows a job evaluation exercise which is backed by the bank’s board.

“The bank has reviewed its organization structure into a fit-for-purpose structure which is to be implemented in order to realize its current and future strategic objectives while optimizing its digital banking solutions,” SBM noted in a statement published in Kenya and reproduced by Citizen Digital. 

SBM is expected to embark on a redundancy program should the voluntary lay-off scheme fail to reach its desired outcome.

Nevertheless, the bank has not indicated the number of roles it seeks to cut in the exercise.

Original article at Citizen Digital