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Malawi has a small banking system, which has a low but increasing level of financial intermediation. The banking system is concentrated and largely privately owned. Banks licensed to provide financial services in Malawi include National Bank of Malawi, Stanbic Bank (a subsidiary of Standard Bank of South Africa), Fincom (part-owned by the South African Nedbank), First Merchant Bank, and Indebank (with a majority of foreign capital). Other institutions include Malawi Savings Bank, National Finance Company, and NBS Bank (New Building Society, privatised in 2003). The National Bank of Malawi is the largest bank and has full domestic ownership. Stanbic, a subsidiary of South Africa’s Standard Bank, and First Merchant Bank, the second and third largest banks are also privately owned. Malawi Savings Bank is the only majority government-owned bank. Additionally, non-bank financial institutions include ten local insurance companies, one foreign insurance company and one reinsurance company. The Opportunity International Bank of Malawi set up in 2005 a new model of technology-driven, low-cost rural service delivery. This included a bank-on-wheels which provides a full range of bank services in rural and semi-urban areas, and has found success as a provider of both credit and savings. In 2010 they also launched another new innovation, ‘Banki Manji’ (‘bank in your palms’), a cell phone banking service.
