Standard Chartered launches Retail Workbench in Asia

Clients in Malaysia and India can now bank on their iPads.

Standard Chartered Bank announced the global launch of its award-winning Retail Workbench, a digital tablet-based sales-and-service tool that “brings the bank” to clients. Seamlessly integrated with the Bank’s back-end infrastructure, Retail Workbench will allow sales staff to open an account for a client in any location and makes banking services like loan approvals and credit card issuance fast, simple and completely paperless.

“Banking should be easy and convenient. That’s what the Retail Workbench is all about,” said Karen Fawcett, Standard Chartered’s CEO for Retail Banking. “We’re harnessing technology to make banking a really ‘wow’ experience. And as we build the digital retail bank of the future, we’re getting rid of paper and improving cost efficiency along the way.”

Retail Workbench is now going live in six markets: Malaysia, India, the UAE, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Kenya. The launch marks a milestone in Standard Chartered’s strategy of using digital technology to deliver a better banking experience to clients. The Bank last year announced it will invest $1.5bn in technology over three years.

Retail Workbench revolutionised the banking industry in Korea when it was launched in 2014, cutting account opening time in the digitally advanced country to five minutes and credit card issuance and personal loan application and disbursement to less than half an hour. It has since won numerous industry awards for innovation and outstanding client service.

Due to differences in local infrastructure, turnaround times and other features of Retail Workbench will vary across the six markets following the global launch. Standard Chartered will successively add capabilities and enhance performance in each market over the coming months and equip more sales teams with the device. By the end of 2017, Retail Workbench will be in the hands of staff in 18 markets across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Retail Workbench will bring the following benefits to clients:

• The bank on an iPad: Retail Workbench puts a set of current and savings account, credit card and personal loan products on one mobile platform - along with product information and marketing brochures - so sales staff can answer questions and respond to client needs in person, in any location.

• Truly anytime, anywhere banking: With a fully digital device, we can process client requests from anywhere, with the data moving straight through to the bank’s back-end operations in near real-time. Previously, sales staff could visit clients in person but the paperwork had to be manually entered into the bank’s systems back at the branch or bank’s premises.

• Fewer forms, fewer hassles: Clients only need to give their personal data to the bank once to create a profile that can be used for future purchases; sales staff use the iPad’s built-in camera to securely snap a picture of identity documents. So there’s no need to fill out multiple forms and no missing data.

• Faster turnaround: Retail Workbench results in faster turnaround times for client requests.

Standard Chartered’s retail banking business serves the banking needs of nearly 10 million individual and business clients across more than 30 markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, through more than 1,000 branches and 5,000 ATMS, as well as digital channels. Standard Chartered received the World’s Best Consumer Digital Bank Award 2015 from Global Finance magazine and also won Best Regional Consumer Digital Bank for the Africa and Middle East region.