For many people, going to the bank is a simple errand. But for years, especially in rural parts of Kenya, banking halls were places where ordinary customers often felt intimidated or unwelcome.

Dr James Mwangi, now the CEO of Equity Group Holdings, still remembers the day his mother experienced that indignity firsthand. He was a teenager when he accompanied her to their local bank to withdraw money. His mother, who had limited formal education, depended on him to navigate the forms and procedures.

The noise of a busy bank, the shuffle of papers, the clinking of coins and the serious faces behind the counter, is a normal scene for most people.

But for millions of ordinary Kenyans, especially those in rural areas, a visit to the bank has not always meant respect or dignity. For Dr James Mwangi, the CEO of Equity Group Holdings, this truth hit home early in life.

A painful childhood memory changed how he would one day run one of Kenya’s biggest banks.

As a young boy, Mwangi watched his mother, Grace Wanjiru, being humiliated at a local bank. She was a hardworking woman who had little formal education and often depended on her son to help her with banking matters.

One day, she went to withdraw some money. Instead of being treated kindly, a bank officer shouted across the counter, “Grace Wanjiru Mwangi, there’s no money!” and threw her withdrawal slip aside.

The problem was only a delay in processing her payment. But the public shame that followed stayed with Mwangi for life. He later said it wasn’t the empty account that hurt. It was how his mother’s dignity was stripped away in front of everyone.

“The issue of infringement on privacy, the indignity of treatment, the abstract of seeing her only on an empty account, but not the human dignity of this account,” he recalled.

That moment became the seed of his life’s philosophy — that banking should be built on dignity, not discrimination.

Years later, when Mwangi took over the struggling Equity Building Society, the memory of his mother guided every decision he made. He made it his mission to create a bank where everyone, rich or poor, urban or rural, could feel respected.

“The humiliation my mother before me helped to develop the corporate philosophy of Equity when I took over; dignity came before financial services,” he said.

He added, “Dignity was first before financial service. Honor was central.”

Mwangi shared this story on Transcending Boundaries, a podcast hosted by Reeta Roy, the President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation.

He said the traditional banking system in Kenya had long favored the privileged few, leaving out millions of ordinary citizens. Opening an account back then required a “reputable” introducer, a hurdle that locked out people from rural areas. Mwangi scrapped that rule.

“If Kenya government has given you an ID, it knows you,” he said. He also removed minimum balance requirements and ledger fees that made it hard for small savers to keep their money safe.

“What about if we abolish minimum balance?” he asked. For Mwangi, it was about restoring trust and respect. “It’s your money. And you couldn’t be explained anything,” he said, describing how banks often ignored customers’ concerns.

He spent time in villages and trading centers, listening to people’s struggles and learning what they needed from a bank.

“You listen to the market and respond to the market. Instead of expecting the market to respond,” he said.

That approach led to innovations like mobile bank branches, agency banking through local shopkeepers, and Equitel which is a mobile service that allows people to transact even without smartphones.

Beyond banking, Mwangi helped launch the Wings to Fly scholarship program to support bright but needy students, and Equity Afia, a healthcare network run by Equity alumni doctors.

He said these programs were part of a bigger dream to help communities grow through financial inclusion, education, and health.

From that painful day in a small rural bank to leading a financial powerhouse, Mwangi’s journey shows how empathy can redefine business.

By putting dignity at the center of banking, he not only transformed Equity Group but also restored respect to millions of customers once ignored by the system.

 He questioned rules that kept ordinary people away from formal banking: the requirement to bring a “reputable introducer” to open an account, the minimum balances that locked out small savers, and the withdrawal limits that left customers unable to access their own money.

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He pushed for changes that made banking easier and less intimidating, saying that a government-issued ID should be enough to open an account. He also challenged punitive fees that wiped out savings for people who deposited very little but deposited often.

Listening to the People Banks Had Ignored

Mwangi has said that many of his ideas came from talking directly to villagers, traders, and people who rarely set foot in a banking hall because they felt excluded. Their frustrations echoed his mother’s experience: long queues, humiliating encounters, or the feeling that banks only served the wealthy.

These conversations encouraged him to rethink what banking could look like for people who had been left out for decades. Some of the changes that followed — such as agency banking and simpler account requirements — were attempts to connect banks with the realities of everyday life.