“Can I&M Group become Eastern Africa's leading full-service digital banking group by modernizing its retail and SME banking platform across five countries?”
The 'IM Bank' name encompasses two distinct banking entities: I&M Bank (I&M Group PLC), a pan-East African banking group headquartered in Nairobi with operations in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Mauritius, founded in 1974; and IM Bank (formerly Daegu Bank), a South Korean regional bank under IM Financial Group (formerly DGB Financial Group) based in Daegu. The East African I&M Group has grown organically into a multi-country banking group offering retail, SME, and corporate banking. The South Korean IM Bank rebranded from DGB/Daegu Bank to IM Financial Group/IM Bank in March 2025, signaling a modernization push. Both entities are expanding digital banking capabilities, with the East African entity deploying Backbase for digital banking transformation and OpenWay Way4 for card issuance in Tanzania.
IM Bank's cards are issued through OpenWay Way4 on the Mastercard network.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in IM Bank's stack: Card issuing (OpenWay Way4); Card network (Mastercard); Lending (Overdraft, Invoice discounting, LPO/Contract financing, Working capital loans and 2 others).
IM Bank is founded in 1974 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya (I&M Bank Kenya / I&M Group PLC) / Daegu, South Korea (IM Bank / IM Financial Group).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against IM Bank and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.