Standard Chartered Bank has launched digital bank in Côte d’Ivoire, being first-of- its-kind in the country and the African continent.
The African Press Organisation (APO) Group which reported the event, where the country’s Minister of Information Technologies and Communication, Mr. Bruno Nabagné KONE, was the guest of honour, quoted the bank’s Regional CEO, Africa and Middle East, Sunil Kaushal, as expressing the delight of the bank’s management over the innovative initiative.
Kaushal said: “We are pleased to launch our first digital bank in Africa with the support of the Government of Côte d’Ivoire. This is a key milestone on our digital journey as a Bank and underlines our commitment to investing and growing in the market.
“We have been steadily investing in expanding our footprint in Africa over the years, and this will continue to be a priority moving forward. Digitising Africa remains at the heart of our business strategy for the region, and we look to implement our Côte d’Ivoire model across other markets in the coming months”, the banker stressed.
A sporting legend and Ivorian icon, Didier Drogba, the Bank’s Digital Ambassador, Drogba shared his experience on the ease of opening an account using his mobile phone. He is the first person in Côte d’Ivoire to open a digital account at the Bank.
In his remarks, Jaydeep Gupta, Regional Head of Retail Banking, Africa & Middle East, explained: “Our new digital bank was developed with our clients in mind. We have taken into consideration the feedback received by our clients at each stage of the design process and have incorporated innovative technology to allow them to execute all banking activities from a mobile device. This includes 70 banking services through the app.
“In addition, for the first time, the client on-boarding journey has been digitised and in under 15 minutes a client can open a new account through the app. What has also been introduced is the ability for clients to track and trace a request submitted, which is a first for Standard Chartered. This is something we are very proud of”, Gupta added.
Similarly, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Côte d’Ivoire, Mr. Isaac Foly, was also quoted as expressing his pleasure on the launch of the Bank’s first digital retail bank in Côte d’Ivoire as well as on the progress the country has made over the past decade.
Foly enthused: “We have seen how digital transformation has contributed to economic development and will continue to do so, in line with the country’s National Development Plan.
“Our partnership with Didier Drogba has helped raise awareness, not only for our digital offering, but for enhancing financial literacy and improving accessibility to financial services across Côte d’Ivoire.
“Promoting the social and economic wellbeing of communities is a key component of our strategy to support sustainable development and our digital bank is certainly another step in the right direction”, the banker stressed.
The news report also indicated that the bank’s digital services were available by downloading the Standard Chartered mobile application, adding that new clients can execute all of their banking activities right from their mobile devices, starting by opening their bank account in less than 15 minutes.
