Standard Chartered as part of its digital transformation plan for Africa has launched digital banks in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. Earlier this year, the British Multinational banking and financial services company had launched digital-only banks in Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, and Kenya.
According to Standard Chartered, one of the advantages of the digital bank in impact is that client onboarding process has been digitized and clients can open a new account in under 15 minutes.
Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO, Africa, and the Middle East said, “This is a significant achievement for the Bank having now launched digital banks in 8 markets in 15 months of our initial launch in Côte d’Ivoire. The growing population of Africa is demanding faster and more convenient banking and it has been very rewarding to witness increased acceptance and growing demand for our digital products across the continent. We have an exciting pipeline of product launches on this platform which will position us as the premier digital bank in our markets of choice.”
Standard Chartered has also introduced an interesting innovation to its digital banking called the SC Keyboard.
The SC Keyboard gives the bank’s customers access to banking services from within any social media or messaging platform without having to open the banking app. According to reports, it allows clients to transfer money in real-time, pay utility bills and instantly check balances from within any social or messaging platform. It can also be configured as the default keyboard on any smartphone so that banking customers can access banking services seamlessly without having to log into the Standard Chartered mobile banking app.
Jaydeep Gupta, Regional Head of Retail Banking, Africa and the Middle East said, “Following the additional rollouts of our online retail banks across Africa, SC Keyboard is an important milestone in our digital journey. SC Keyboard was designed with our clients in mind, as users can now pay their bills, view their account balances and transfer money to their friends or family through any social or messaging platform. Increased prosperity has made the African population more financially savvy and many users seek new and easy ways to handle their money. We want our interactions to be simple, intuitive and seamless – with, we will remain committed to leveraging the best technology to bridge digital and human channels and enhance customer centricity and service delivery.”
