Standard Chartered to invest $3bn in strengthening ops; not threatened by fintech firms
Standard Chartered invests heavily in technology and operations
Standard Chartered says it plans to invest $3 billion in strengthening it technology, retail and private banking and wealth management operations. As part of this, $30 million will be invested over the next three years in Scope International, the bank’s global shared services centre in Malaysia.
Scope International’s CEO Matthew Norris says that the subsidiary supports Standard Chartered’s operations across 54 countries worldwide. It provides software development, banking operations, IT support services and customer services capabilities.
“In Malaysia, the investment by the bank to boost technology is 50% more than what was spent last year and this will continue to support our growth,” he says.
Scope International was set up in 2001, with 150 people on the payroll. Today, it has over 5,000 employees.
Last year, it opened a Global Collective Intelligence and Command Centre, staffed with software engineers, operations specialists and service partners, co-located in a 33,000 square feet environment at Technology Park Malaysia.
Scope International is one of three global shared services centres of Standard Chartered – the other two are in China and India.
Fintech not a threat
Commenting on the proliferation of fintech start-ups, MD and CEO of Standard Chartered Malaysia, Mahendra Gursahani, says the bank does not see them as a threat.
Standard Chartered is happy to collaborate with those fintech companies that share common objectives with the bank, he says. “Fintech is the new buzzword. We are investing on our own technology that will not only compete but complement fintech companies.”
In a separate development, Standard Chartered has recently opted to implement a new private banking and wealth management system across the group. The solution will be supplied by Temenos.
