NCBA Bank Kenya Exchange Rate API: KES Buy and Sell Rates as JSON

NCBA Bank Kenya is the Kenyan bank of NCBA Group, formed in 2019 from the merger of NIC Bank and the Commercial Bank of Africa. Its forex page lists daily indicative buying and selling rates against the shilling for about 19 currencies, including the Ugandan, Tanzanian and Rwandan currencies. This guide shows how to read that board as JSON: what the rates mean, how they compare with the Central Bank of Kenya official rate and with other banks in Kenya, and the calls that return them.

What the NCBA board shows

• 19 currencies against the Kenyan shilling: AED, AUD, CAD, CHF, CNY, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, INR, JPY, NOK, RWF, SEK, THB, TZS, UGX, USD and ZAR. Every value is KES per 1 unit of the foreign currency.
• The daily indicative forex board buy / sell pair. The Kenyan shilling floats and each bank sets its own buying and selling rates from the interbank market, so spreads differ between banks and currencies. Regional currencies such as the Ugandan and Tanzanian shilling are often quoted per 1 KES; they are converted here to KES per 1 unit. The Central Bank of Kenya sets a daily official mean rate, which banks are not bound to use.
• USD on 15 November 2026: NCBA bought at 125 and sold at 133.5 KES, a spread of 6.58%. The Central Bank of Kenya official rate was 129.96, so the bank's mid sat -0.55% from it.
• The bank's own timestamp. The page prints a last-updated stamp (13 Nov 2026 on the board above), returned as bank_updated_at next to our captured_at.
• Every day's board is kept permanently, from 13 November 2026. Read one past day with ?date=, or a range for one currency with the /history endpoint (paid plans).

Spreads across the board

On the 15 November 2026 board the tightest spreads were USD (6.58%), GBP (11.56%), CHF (11.84%) and the widest RWF (61.88%), UGX (60.74%), ZAR (46.38%). Spread is (sell − buy) ÷ mid: what a round trip through the bank costs, before any fees. The API returns it on every row as spread_pct, so you can rank currencies or alert when a bank widens its board.

USD at NCBA and other banks in Kenya

USD on the 11 boards AllRatesToday reads in Kenya, all captured on 15 November 2026 (the Central Bank of Kenya official rate was 129.96):

NCBA had the 10th narrowest USD spread of the 11. One call to /api/v1/bank-rates/ke returns every board in the table at once.

Get the board (REST)

You need an API key; the free key works. The full board:

curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/ke/ncba" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"

What comes back (the 15 November 2026 board, first three rows):

{
  "bank": "ncba",
  "name": "NCBA Bank Kenya",
  "country": "ke",
  "quote_ccy": "KES",
  "bank_updated_at": "13 Nov 2026",
  "basis": "Daily indicative forex board buy / sell",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-15T11:30:27.947Z",
  "rates": [
    {"ccy":"AED","buy":30.63,"sell":38.86,"mid":34.745,"spread_pct":23.687,"official":35.38,"vs_official_pct":-1.795},
    {"ccy":"AUD","buy":83.3,"sell":94.03,"mid":88.665,"spread_pct":12.102,"official":88.36,"vs_official_pct":0.345},
    {"ccy":"CAD","buy":85.89,"sell":96.91,"mid":91.4,"spread_pct":12.057,"official":91.13,"vs_official_pct":0.296},
    … 16 more currencies
  ],
  "disclaimer": "…",
  "attribution": { … }
}

One currency, with the row fields at the top level:

curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/ke/ncba?ccy=USD" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"

{
  "bank": "ncba",
  "name": "NCBA Bank Kenya",
  "country": "ke",
  "quote_ccy": "KES",
  "bank_updated_at": "13 Nov 2026",
  "basis": "Daily indicative forex board buy / sell",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-15T11:30:27.947Z",
  "ccy": "USD",
  "buy": 125,
  "sell": 133.5,
  "mid": 129.25,
  "spread_pct": 6.576,
  "official": 129.96,
  "vs_official_pct": -0.546,
  "disclaimer": "Retail buy/sell rates as displayed on each bank’s own website at capture time, quoted as home currency per 1 unit of foreign currency. Indicative only: banks change these through the day, apply them at the counter or in-app, and they are not official or reference rates. For the rate a regulation names, use the central-bank endpoints.",
  "attribution": {
    "source": "Board rates published by NCBA Bank Kenya on its own website, collected by AllRatesToday",
    "bank_url": "https://ncbagroup.com/ke/for-business/forex-solutions/",
    "url": "https://allratestoday.com/bank-exchange-rate-api/ke/ncba/",
    "terms": "Public pages that show the rates need a visible link to allratestoday.com"
  }
}

The board as it stood on a past day:

curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/ke/ncba?date=2026-11-13" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"

One currency over a date range, one row per day (paid plans; add &format=csv, xml or xlsx for a file):

curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/ke/ncba/history?ccy=USD&from=2026-11-13&to=2026-11-15" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"

JavaScript

npm install @allratestoday/sdk

import { AllRatesToday } from '@allratestoday/sdk';

const client = new AllRatesToday({ apiKey: 'art_live_your_key' });

// NCBA Bank Kenya's USD row
const r = await client.bankRates('ke', { bank: 'ncba', ccy: 'USD' });
console.log(`NCBA buys USD at ${r.buy}, sells at ${r.sell} KES`);

// The board as it stood on a past day
const past = await client.bankRates('ke', { bank: 'ncba', date: '2026-11-13' });
console.log(past.snapshot_date, past.rates.length);

Python

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/ke/ncba",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer art_live_your_key"},
    timeout=10,
)
r.raise_for_status()
for row in r.json()["rates"]:
    print(row["ccy"], row["buy"], row["sell"], row["spread_pct"])

Board rate or official rate?

The Central Bank of Kenya rate is the one tax, accounting and customs rules in Kenya name; nobody transacts at it. NCBA's board is the price a customer actually gets. The API puts both on every row: official is the central bank's rate for the same currency and vs_official_pct is how far the bank's mid sits from it. Use the board to show customers a real price, compare banks for a remittance, or keep a dated record of what the bank quoted; use the Central Bank of Kenya endpoint when a rule asks for the official rate.

FAQ

Where do the NCBA Bank Kenya rates come from?

From the bank's own public rates page (https://ncbagroup.com/ke/for-business/forex-solutions/), read hourly. AllRatesToday does not change the numbers: each row is the buy and sell price NCBA shows, with the mid, the spread and the Central Bank of Kenya rate added.

Are these the official KES exchange rates?

No. They are NCBA's retail prices for customers. The official rate in Kenya is the Central Bank of Kenya rate, which the API returns as official on each row where the central bank has one, and in full from the central-bank endpoint.

How often is the NCBA board updated?

AllRatesToday reads the page every hour. The bank's own last-updated stamp is returned as bank_updated_at, so you can tell a fresh read of an unchanged board from a new board.

Can I get NCBA rates for a past date?

Yes, from 13 November 2026 onward; every day's board is kept permanently. Add ?date=YYYY-MM-DD for one day: the response is the board captured that day, or the nearest earlier day within five days, with date_requested and snapshot_date added. For a range, /history?ccy=USD&from=…&to=… returns one row per day as JSON, CSV, XML or XLSX on paid plans.

Do I need an API key?

Yes. Commercial bank boards need an API key; any plan works, the free key included, and each call counts against the plan. Public pages or widgets that show the rates need a visible link to allratestoday.com.