The bank was established in 1965 , initially as a cooperative society . The banking license was granted in 1968 . The Kenya Government directed all cooperative societies in the country to transfer their deposits to the Cooperative Bank of Kenya and that all cooperatives buy the bank 's shares . In 1977 , the bank opened its first subsidiary : Cooperative Finance Limited . In 1989 , the bank converted to a fully fledged commercial bank and increased its products menu . In 1998 the bank 's headquarters were relocated following destruction of the original premises by the bombing targeting the nearby Embassy of the United States of America . That same year , the bank became an agent of the money-transfer service company MoneyGram . In 2002 , the bank 's headquarters returned to Cooperative Bank House following renovations . In 2008 , the bank listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange , where its shares trade under the symbol : '' ' COOP '' '
bombing
1998 United States embassy bombings
Co-operative Bank of Kenya