Kenya’s pool of unclaimed financial assets has surpassed the Sh100 billion mark for the first time, reflecting both rising compliance by institutions and persistent challenges in tracing rightful owners. New data shows that the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (Ufaa) held Sh115 billion in unclaimed cash, shares, dividends, mobile wallet balances, and safe deposit box contents by December 2025 up from Sh75.5 billion a year earlier.
The surge has been driven by increased transfers of dormant accounts and unclaimed instruments from banks, insurers, pension schemes, saccos, legal firms, and telecom operators. Despite the growth, recovery by beneficiaries remains low. Less than 10 percent of the assets have been reunited with claimants, pointing to limited public awareness, administrative hurdles, and, in some cases, family disputes delaying claims.
Unclaimed assets typically include bank accounts inactive for more than five years, uncashed banker’s cheques, forgotten dividends, unclaimed insurance payouts, and mobile money deposits on phone lines inactive for over two years. As Kenya’s digital and financial systems expand, the volume of dormant micro-balances especially in mobile wallets continues to grow.
Between June 2024 and June 2025, unclaimed cash rose from Sh25.4 billion to Sh33.8 billion. Idle bank balances accounted for the largest share at Sh24.5 billion, while unclaimed dividends and insurance policies reached Sh4.3 billion and Sh3 billion respectively. During the same period, institutions surrendered Sh4.7 billion in cash, more than 81 million share units, and 67 safe deposit boxes.
By contrast, reunification remains significantly lower. Only Sh427 million in cash and 7.35 million shares were reclaimed over the year, representing just 1.26 percent of idle cash. While Ufaa has conducted outreach clinics across multiple counties, the pace of reunification still trails the rate of new surrenders.
Audit findings indicate that many unclaimed balances are small amounts often below Sh1,000 making the cost of claiming higher than the benefit. This has discouraged many potential claimants despite Kenya’s soft economic environment. Additionally, the absence of wills and secretive wealth management practices among some individuals contribute to assets remaining unclaimed long after death.
Under Kenyan law, institutions must surrender unclaimed assets to Ufaa annually or face penalties. Enforcement has strengthened in recent years, with penalties of up to 25 percent of the value of withheld assets, and daily fines ranging between Sh7,000 and Sh50,000.
Ufaa invests the idle funds in government securities in accordance with statutory guidelines. Half of the cash goes to Treasury bonds, 45 percent to Treasury bills, and five percent remains in cash. Between 2019 and 2024, these investments generated Sh13.1 billion in cumulative returns an indicator of how large the asset pool has become.
The rise in unclaimed assets underscores broader structural issues in personal finance, record keeping, and succession planning. As more Kenyans accumulate digital and financial assets, the importance of estate documentation continues to grow.
From an investment perspective, the trend also highlights the value of liquidity, transparency, and active portfolio oversight factors that help prevent assets from falling dormant across institutions.
As more Kenyans navigate a complex financial landscape, maintaining clear, accessible, and well managed savings has never been more important. Consider growing your savings with the Cytonn Money Market Fund (CMMF) a transparent, liquid investment option designed to help you earn steady returns while keeping your funds accessible.
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