Kenya, September, 14 2014 - The ambitious Equity, which is laying ground to launch a new mobile money assault, gained 3.6 per cent on Friday with an intra-day trading high of Sh52.50, pushing its valuation to Sh187 billion. Second placed in the banking sector is KCB, valued at Sh171.6 billion, with its share closing at Sh57.50 or Sh15 billion less than Equity.

Equity Bank stock hit a fresh all-time high of Sh50.50 Friday, helping the lender widen its lead over KCB as the most valuable listed bank at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE).

The ambitious Equity, which is laying ground to launch a new mobile money assault, gained 3.6 per cent on Friday with an intra-day trading high of Sh52.50, pushing its valuation to Sh187 billion. Second placed in the banking sector is KCB, valued at Sh171.6 billion, with its share closing at Sh57.50 or Sh15 billion less than Equity.

The two lenders have a few times swapped the mantle of top bank at the NSE this year, although with its latest price surge Equity seems to be widening the distance in the race.

Investors have reacted positively to the awarding of a licence to the bank to roll out its SIM cards, a process that has been held up by objections from leading telco Safaricom which has expressed security concerns over the thin-SIM technology.

“On news that Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) allowed Equity Bank to launch thin-film SIM cards for one year, the lender touched a high of Sh52.50. Within the year, the bank’s SIM cards will be tested and monitored by CA for any security vulnerabilities,” said Standard Investment bank in a market note Friday.

The bank is operating its telcoms service through subsidiary Finserve, which was granted a mobile virtual network operator licence in May.