StanChart to push digital banking adoption in Malaysia to 65% by 2022

Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia has revealed plans to raise the rate of digital banking adoption in its client base to 65%, by 2022.This was announced by Aaron Loo, country head of retail banking who added that digital adoption of StanChart’s online and mobile banking platforms had “consistently increased over the years”. This has amounted to close to half of the bank’s clients now completing common banking transactions online.He added that the portion of digitally active customers who use digital banking at least every two weeks and made online purchases in the last six months had grown significantly since 2014. In emerging Asia, digitally active customers doubled to 25%, and grew 1.2 times in developed Asia to 85% of the population, quoting a McKinsey & Company study.Loo added in the statement that technology is at the heart of the bank’s strategy. This is in increasing efficiencies, raising automation and decreasing manual errors and combating financial crimes, driven by the desire to serve clients more effectively.To date, the bank has launched services such as live chat, touch ID, online service requests and the update of personal details online to better cater to customers online.In 2015, the bank invested US$3 billion over three years in technology and systems across the group to refresh its products and services for ease-of-use on digital platforms. It also served to develop intuitive solutions based on client feedback and simplifying processes.In 2016, StanChart revealed plans to pour in approximately RM 123.3 million (US$30million) in Malaysia. According to a report on The Star, the money will be used to run a global technology and operation hub under wholly-owned subsidiary, Scope International. The investment is part of the US$3 billion that the bank set aside to strengthen its tech offering, retail and private banking and wealth management.Last year, the bank appointed Abrar A. Anwar as its managing director and chief executive officer. Abrar succeeded Mahendra Gursahani who left to take on another opportunity.Most recently the bank was tipped to have created two new hubs – Singapore and Hong Kong – for its Asia operations. This is in a bid to simplify its extensive network and cut costs, Bloomberg sources said. The report added that the move may consolidate as many as 10 countries in Southeast and South Asia and involve Indonesia and India – housed under a new Singapore subsidiary as early as next year. Meanwhile, the consolidation of non-China North Asian markets such as South Korea will likely be housed under the Hong Kong subsidiary.