EFFECTS OF CREDIT RISK MANAGEMENT ON LOAN REPAYMENT PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN KENYA
Beatrice Wakini Mwangi - Master in Business Administration, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Dr. Willy Muturi - Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Banks operate in an environment of considerable risks and uncertainty. Credit risk has always been a vicinity of concern not only to bankers but to all in the business world because the risks of a trading partner not fulfilling his obligations in full on due date can seriously jeopardize the affairs of the other partner. Credit risk management in banks has become more important because of the series of financial crisis that the world has experienced in the recent past. The objective of study was to investigate the influence of credit policies, debt collection process, risk identification process and credit scoring on loan repayment performance of commercial banks. The target population was employees of the registered commercial banks in Kenya working at the head office with a sample size of 55 respondents drawn using purposive sampling. Primary data was collected by use of questionnaires. A reliability test was done by carrying out a pilot survey using Cronbach Alpha method. Analysis was done by both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Quantitative analysis included the use of tables. The data was then analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics; regression analysis was used to demonstrate effect of independent variables on dependent variable. The findings revealed positive significance relationships between the variables all set at p<.05.Organisational credit policies correlated at coefficient of 0.380,while risk identification processes correlated at coefficient of 0.692, debt collection processes at 0.417 and credit scoring correlated at 0.323. The findings of the study indicated credit risk management has an effect on the loan repayment performance. The findings noted commercial banks’ effectiveness in implementing their organizational credit policies would result to an improvement in the loan repayment among its borrowers; Commercial banks’ effectiveness in implementing their organizational credit policies would result to an improvement in the loan repayment among its borrower. An improvement in the debt collection among commercial banks and intense credit scoring of borrowers helps in only selecting the pool of borrowers who are credit trustworthy and thus this would have a positive implication on the loan repayment performance of loans. Based on the study findings the study concluded that credit policies, debt collection process, risk identification process and credit scoring have a significant positive effect on loan repayment performance. The study recommended that companies and/or firms should have stringent credit appraisal techniques and that it should also adopt credit monitoring practices. The study also recommended that banks and any other credit lending organization should have a stringent debt collection policy. Therefore the credit committees at all levels must work in co-ordination in order to ensure that credit is collected in a timely manner.
