Standard Bank Group has been recognised once again for its accomplishments over the past year. This time round, the bank has secured prestigious country awards in South Africa, Lesotho, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Angola in the Bank of the Year awards for 2019.
Regarded as the industry standard for banking excellence, The Banker’s (part of the Financial Times Group) Bank of the Year awards – now in their nineteenth year – was presented at a gala dinner held in London.
The awards programme attracts the world’s leading financial institutions, which are judged on their ability to deliver returns, gain strategic advantage and serve their markets – through setting new standards for their local industries, facilitated by technology or other innovative ways of expanding their business.
Applicants are required to submit comprehensive data on their earnings, asset growth, return on equity as well as information on their ability to serve the markets in which they operate.
In addition to data on growth in its assets and capital, Standard Bank in its application highlighted increasing its shareholdings in the group’s Nigerian and Kenyan subsidiaries. These investments were made in support of Standard Bank’s Africa strategy and will contribute to Standard Bank’s plans to drive growth across the African continent.
With regards to tech upgrades, Standard Bank noted its selection of Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its preferred cloud provider to migrate its production workloads, including its customer facing platforms and strategic core banking applications, to the cloud. Standard Bank will leverage AWS services, including data analytics and machine learning, to automate financial operations and enhance customer facing web and mobile applications.
Lastly, Standard Bank put forward its Virtual Cards innovation, which allows customers to create, load and utilise prepaid virtual cards online, in real-time with unparalleled safety and control. Leading e-commerce partners are part of its Virtual Card ecosystem, and with increasing visibility through marketing and positive media reviews, Virtual Cards are starting to attract early adopters from across the banks’s existing customer base.
“Standard Bank’s South African and Africa-wide network is unmatched in its breadth, depth and robustness – and we work hard to ensure that all our capabilities are at the service of our clients, 24/7/365 days a year, via digital channels or in person,” says Standard Bank Group CE, Sim Tshabalala.
With the group’s presence in 20 countries across the continent, Tshabalala says the bank is equipped with deep insights to serve its markets with a combination of local expertise and global reach. . “It is an honour to be awarded for our work in serving Africa’s economies.’