KCB Group has been included in Forbes’ inaugural World’s Top Performing Banks 2026 ranking, placing the Kenyan banking group among 500 financial institutions selected from 89 countries.
The Forbes ranking is different from the publication’s annual World’s Best Banks list, which is based largely on customer surveys. The new ranking instead uses financial data to assess how banks are performing across profitability, growth, resilience and efficiency.
Forbes produced the ranking with market research firm Statista, using financial information from data providers including S&P Capital IQ, desk research and information submitted by banks.
To qualify, banks had to be licensed deposit-taking institutions with more than $3 billion in assets, publish audited financial statements and provide at least three consecutive years of financial data.
Forbes then assessed qualifying banks across four areas.
Profitability accounted for 30% of the score, using measures including return on average assets, cost-to-income ratio and net interest margin.
Growth and earnings quality accounted for 20%, incorporating earnings growth and stability as well as customer deposit growth over three-year periods.
Capital and funding resilience contributed 25%, with measures including the equity ratio and loan-to-deposit ratio.
The remaining 25% covered asset quality and efficiency, including credit quality, risk management and balance-sheet resilience.
Rather than putting every bank into a single league table regardless of size, Forbes divided the institutions into six asset-based peer groups. Banks with more than $500 billion in assets were placed in Tier 1, while Tier 2 covered $100 billion to $500 billion, Tier 3 $50 billion to $100 billion, Tier 4 $20 billion to $50 billion, Tier 5 $10 billion to $20 billion and Tier 6 $3 billion to $10 billion.
KCB Group’s inclusion gives Kenya representation in a ranking designed to measure the underlying financial performance of banks rather than their brand popularity or customer satisfaction.
The Nairobi-based group operates through KCB Bank Kenya and regional banking subsidiaries, with the group describing itself as a holding company overseeing its banking operations and other financial-services businesses.
The Forbes recognition follows a strong financial year for KCB. The group reported KSh68.4 billion in net profit for 2025, according to its investor-relations disclosures.
Forbes’ ranking comes as the global banking industry continues to expand. The publication, citing McKinsey & Company, said global banking-sector net income increased 7% between 2024 and 2025 to $1.3 trillion.
The highest-ranked institutions in the new Forbes ranking included Singapore’s OCBC Bank and DBS Group, which took the first two positions among banks with more than $500 billion in assets. Zimbabwe’s CBZ Bank led the $100 billion-to-$500 billion category, while Saudi Arabia’s Alinma topped the $50 billion-to-$100 billion group.
Forbes ultimately selected 500 banks across 89 countries for its first World’s Top Performing Banks ranking, creating a new benchmark focused on financial performance and resilience rather than customer perception.
