diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f3b3a7bd7572..89f83113ff0a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Improvements
+
+* [\#9428](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/9428) Optimize bank InitGenesis. Added `k.initBalances`.
+
 ### Bug Fixes
 
 * [\#9401](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/9401) Fixes incorrect export of IBC identifier sequences. Previously, the next identifier sequence for clients/connections/channels was not set during genesis export. This resulted in the next identifiers being generated on the new chain to reuse old identifiers (the sequences began again from 0).
diff --git a/x/bank/keeper/genesis.go b/x/bank/keeper/genesis.go
index d30415c6a285..c70dee585c6c 100644
--- a/x/bank/keeper/genesis.go
+++ b/x/bank/keeper/genesis.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ func (k BaseKeeper) InitGenesis(ctx sdk.Context, genState *types.GenesisState) {
 			panic(err)
 		}
 
-		if err := k.SetBalances(ctx, addr, balance.Coins); err != nil {
+		if err := k.initBalances(ctx, addr, balance.Coins); err != nil {
 			panic(fmt.Errorf("error on setting balances %w", err))
 		}
 
diff --git a/x/bank/keeper/send.go b/x/bank/keeper/send.go
index c1000b7d3025..59668463c7d1 100644
--- a/x/bank/keeper/send.go
+++ b/x/bank/keeper/send.go
@@ -258,6 +258,28 @@ func (k BaseSendKeeper) SetBalances(ctx sdk.Context, addr sdk.AccAddress, balanc
 	return nil
 }
 
+// initBalances sets the balance (multiple coins) for an account by address.
+// An error is returned upon failure.
+func (k BaseSendKeeper) initBalances(ctx sdk.Context, addr sdk.AccAddress, balances sdk.Coins) error {
+	store := ctx.KVStore(k.storeKey)
+	balancesStore := prefix.NewStore(store, types.BalancesPrefix)
+	accountStore := prefix.NewStore(balancesStore, addr.Bytes())
+	for i := range balances {
+		balance := balances[i]
+		if !balance.IsValid() {
+			return sdkerrors.Wrap(sdkerrors.ErrInvalidCoins, balance.String())
+		}
+
+		// Bank invariants require to not store zero balances.
+		if !balance.IsZero() {
+			bz := k.cdc.MustMarshalBinaryBare(&balance)
+			accountStore.Set([]byte(balance.Denom), bz)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // SetBalance sets the coin balance for an account by address.
 func (k BaseSendKeeper) SetBalance(ctx sdk.Context, addr sdk.AccAddress, balance sdk.Coin) error {
 	if !balance.IsValid() {