Absa Bank Kenya, one of the country’s largest commercial banks, said a KES 4 billion ($31 million) technology investment helped automate 71% of its processes in 2025, as nearly all customer transactions moved to digital channels.

The lender said 94% of customer transactions were completed through digital and alternative channels in 2025, according to its sustainability report. The figures highlight how Kenya’s biggest banks are using automation, cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence to cut costs as routine banking shifts away from physical branches and into systems that can handle higher volumes with fewer manual steps.

I&M Bank said 98% of its transactions were completed through digital channels in 2025, while Equity, KCB and Co-Operative Bank have each reported that more than 90% of transactions now take place outside physical branches.

That shift is changing where banks direct technology spending. Investments that once focused on mobile and internet banking are now moving into cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and data systems, reflecting the operational demands of maintaining digital services at scale.

Absa said its KES 4 billion ($31 million) technology investment funded cloud modernisation, robotics automation, machine learning and network infrastructure, expanding the systems that support digital banking, fraud controls and internal operations.

“Automation and process optimisation helped maintain a cost-to-income ratio of 37%,” the bank said in the report.

Former CEO Abdi Mohamed said in April that the lender plans to spend between KES 2 billion ($15.5 million) and KES 3 billion ($23.3 million) annually on technology. The spending will sustain a technology programme that has become central to how Absa controls costs as growth in its traditional banking business remains modest.

Profit after tax rose 10% to KES 22.9 billion ($178 million) in 2025, even as loans and customer deposits grew just 1%, according to the sustainability report. Other operating expenses fell 21% to KES 7.35 billion ($57 million), while the cost-to-income ratio narrowed to 36.5% from 46% a year earlier.

The changes are also unfolding alongside adjustments in Absa’s workforce, although the bank has not linked automation to job losses. Full-time headcount increased by 43 to 2,210 in 2025, and employee turnover fell to 6.2% from 7.7%.

In January, 82 employees left through a voluntary separation programme that cost KES 717 million ($5.6 million). Those departures came after the reporting period and are not included in the 2025 headcount.

Absa also reported 3,345 workers who were not classified as employees, about 51% more than its permanent workforce. They include outsourced security, cleaning and facilities staff, technology vendors, consultants, contractors, interns and trainees. The bank did not disclose how much it spent on the non-employee workforce or how the workers were distributed across those categories.

The bank still operates 91 branches and service centres and 204 ATMs for more than 1.2 million customers. The network now sits alongside a business where only a fraction of transactions depend on traditional channels, leaving branches to serve a broader mix of customer needs as routine banking moves to digital platforms.