13 minute read
Progress with Purpose
Of his more than thirty years in banking, Sunil Kaushal Regional CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Africa and Middle East (AME), views the past five as the most transformative and rewarding, as he continues to lead the bank through modernisation of services, purposes and principles in these most important and promising regions
You have been with Standard Chartered Bank for close to 25 years. How would you define the past five when compared with your previous twenty?
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I have spent, as you say, over three decades in banking and nearly a quarter of a century with Standard Chartered. The past five years have been the most transformative and rewarding period at the Bank. There have been several key defining moments for me the last couple years – from navigating the Covid-19 pandemic to accelerating our commitment to digitisation and sustainability.
It is safe to say we are currently living and working at an extraordinary and important moment in time. At Standard Chartered, we have spent the last five years strengthening our foundations and demonstrating that we can be a profitable, purpose-led company that is ‘Here for Good’.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been able to act upon this for our clients, colleagues and communities. For our clients, we have provided financial flexibility and support measures that will aid in their continued stability and growth. For our colleagues, we looked to safeguard their wellbeing during this time of crisis through mental health programmes and inclusion initiatives.
Sunil Kaushal, Regional CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Africa and Middle East (AME)
And, for our communities, we have launched numerous charitable initiatives, including the donation of medical equipment and financial aid, that aimed to directly support the ongoing efforts of local authorities and philanthropic entities in the fight against COVID-19.
Another key highlight in the last five years was when we launched our digital only banks. To meet changing consumer needs and demands, we sought to address this by charting a journey towards digitisation and self-disruption in Africa. After successfully piloting a digital bank in Côte d’Ivoire in 2018, Standard Chartered rolled out digital banking platforms across nine additional African markets.
We have also made a substantial effort towards our commitment to sustainability. In 2020, we committed to USD75bn in sustainable financing by 2024, to support our clients as they transition to net zero. In May 2021, we shared the Transition Finance Imperative to lay out how we’ll support specific sectors to transition. And in October 2021, we pledged new targets
to reach net-zero carbon emissions from financed activity by 2050, including interim 2030 targets for the most carbonintensive sectors.
As we look ahead, we are redirecting our priorities on the most significant opportunities for growth while also focusing on simplifying the business. We remain committed to the region as we continue to accelerate our digital transformation, proudly expanding our digital banking network across several markets.
As we move forward, the region is focused on executing swiftly against the strategy to drive growth and we are determined to support our clients achieve prosperity whilst being the most responsible and sustainable bank.
Digital transformation is now fundamental to operating as a bank. How have you led Standard Chartered across the diverse regions of Africa and the Middle East in this important journey?
The global pandemic caused a significant shift in the banking sector, accelerating the drive towards digital adoption. In this post pandemic economy, we are increasingly seeing more and more people turn to digital payment and e-commerce platforms, and as a result we are investing more in our digital capabilities, alliances and partnerships - redoubling our digital efforts that include providing a standard platform for global core digital services across all our markets.
This allows our clients to access core services through a single globally consistent digital experience, which is fundamental to our move towards a digital future that grows, defends and differentiates our business, which also delivers better outcomes for our clients. Our focus is to continue building and enhancing our capabilities for digital onboarding and online servicing, while digitising the core client journey across in cash, trade and financial markets services.
We are closely looking at the regions that will deliver maximum efficiencies and rolling out these capabilities. For instance, focus across the region.
Furthermore, we see that customers are increasingly demanding a digital experience where they enjoy simple, secure and affordable banking anytime, anywhere. Our digital banks have allowed us to attract a new audience of futureready consumers, comprising a younger, digital-savvy demographic, with more than two-thirds of accounts being opened by consumers below the age of 35 and women representing a much larger share than normal. In addition, we are also proudly expanding our digital banking network in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, and are excited to further strengthen our digital banking story across the region.
in our 150+ years of experience in the AME region, one of our most prominent achievements was successfully introducing Standard Chartered’s digitalonly banks across our African operations -- whereby since 2018, our fully digital African banks have acquired 1m new accounts, with 98% of our customers now being acquired digitally. We also focused on accelerating our digital agenda and transforming our Retail Banking business, which also proved successful.
Partnerships continue to play a critical role in building our network and offering our clients a better experience while capitalising on more commercial opportunities. As such, we aim to continue to partner with leading global and regional companies, with a focus on fintechs, telecommunications and e-commerce platforms. Across the AME region, adopting a digitally led partnershipdriven business approach enables us to acquire and serve clients in a costefficient manner that offers us scale. We can also leverage these partnerships to create products that improve access to financial services; be it with the launch of digital only banks in nine markets in Africa and real-time onboarding in the UAE to provide clients with instant digital credit cards and issuance solutions - these digital initiatives will continue to be our
In the coming years, which sections of the banking and finance world in Africa and the Middle East are now likely to experience an intensification of digital transformation activity?
The greatest potential lies in disruptive technologies that make banking more accessible, efficient and convenient. Keeping services in silos is no longer feasible, with consumers demanding allinclusive experiences from their banks. Open banking, for instance, allows the financial services sector to seamlessly
integrate with that of the retail and lifestyle sector, providing consumers with a dynamic blend of services through a singular platform.
Both wealth management and personal banking will see a significant shift to digital for years. It was a conscious choice for Standard Chartered to adopt a mobile-led digital strategy and to invest in an affordable, easy to roll out end to end digital bank offering, but that choice was also largely driven by changing consumer behaviour and preferences. The pandemic served as a large-scale, abrupt test drive of these technologies, further confirming the importance of championing digital transformation.
How have the wealth management and investments offerings of Standard Chartered Bank evolved to meet the needs of your clients?
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated a shift in behaviour from both clients and their advisors – placing a greater emphasis on digital solutions that enable remote engagement rather than face to face interactions. Looking specifically at the Middle East, a change in the trajectory of the wealth management model has been evident for quite some time. It is becoming clearer that firms that can provide an automated platform with periodic access to a human advisor is the most preferred scenario across a range of investor profiles - combining the best of both worlds for clients. At Standard Chartered, we curate the most diverse market research and combine this with our own expertise to help clients navigate financial markets and maximise the return on their investments.
The adoption rate for digital wealth management solutions has also increased dramatically during the pandemic. In the beginning of 2020, Standard Chartered launched a mobile fixed income platform in select African markets. By July, up to 50% of fixed income transactions were completed using the mobile app. The diversification of digital product offerings in investments has given clients the option to choose where to invest during the pandemic. However, customers still care for an experienced professional who will translate and explain the strategies proposed by the systems, while offering support in the decision-making process. The classic, relationship-driven business model with its communication channels such as telephone, email and face-toface meetings will not become obsolete, but there will be a shift from personal interaction to digitally enabled client interactions via intelligent solutions and social media.[1]
Given the rapidly ongoing changes in and around the banking sector across our region, how does this affect or even change the values of the bank?
The changes experienced on multiple fronts by the financial industry is a reality for us all. However, as banks we have a choice in terms of how we approach and address this change. One of the most important principles to master this evolution is to move from managing people and processes to managing purposes and principles with an entrepreneurial mindset. Our purpose is and will continue to be, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity. This sets a single direction for everything the Bank does, connecting our strategy to our growth and the ambitions we have in the societies that we operate in. It is unique to us because of our history, our global footprint, and our ambitions. These values define who we are, and how we operate. They sit at the heart of everything we do.
We are well aware of our responsibilities and the part we play in creating a more sustainable world. Our focus is to provide our customers and communities with the opportunity to grow financially, while also improving their wellbeing and quality of life across our unique footprint in the region. We are proud to be the bank for the new economy - of people and ideas, of technology and trade, and our heritage and values that are expressed in our brand promise - here for good.
And while being ‘Here for good’ may have gotten harder, due to a plethora of changes the industry continues to witness, we are a bank that takes a stand, setting long-term ambitions for our role on issues that matter most. This stretches our thinking, our actions and our leadership, it’s how we will accelerate our growth. These are big ambitions for our business and in society. So big we can’t get there alone. That’s why we’re collaborating across our network and with a huge variety of partners. From start-ups to multinationals, fintechs to NGOs, each being at the forefront of emerging trends and market forces.
Finally, we understand that embracing transformation is no longer an option; it’s a necessity, and everyone in the business has an important part to play in this journey. Across the region, we’ve built a bank with diverse experience, capabilities and culture that set us apart, and is a source of our competitive advantage. To make the most of our diversity, we’re challenging everyone in the Bank to be restless and ‘intrapreneurial’, solve problems and bring fresh ideas. That’s how we can do things better, and make a difference for our clients, our business
and in the world as things rapidly change. We’re building a culture of learning while empowering colleagues to grow, follow their aspirations and embrace the skills needed for the future.
What would you say have been the leading motivations that brought you to the place you now are in your career?
Having led the Bank’s operations in Africa and the Middle East (AME) since 2015, as well as having been with the Standard Chartered family for over 20 years, I have seen first-hand that change is the only constant in nature. As it is commonly known, it is not the ones who are the strongest, fastest or fittest that survive, but rather the ones who adapt most quickly. Relying simply on how business was done, or on the existing tools in your arsenal will only get you so far. However constantly seeking new ways of doing business, generating fresh ideas, and staying hungry for knowledge and development is key to seeing personal or professional success in my opinion. When you take digital transformation for example, as mentioned before - a key moment in my career was when we decided to open a digital bank in Cote d’Ivoire – and we accelerated that strategy across our markets in Africa. Our purpose remained the same, however it was important for us to challenge the way we operated, to ensure we drive commerce and prosperity to the areas that need it the most. Such change is only realised when you have a strong, diverse team that shares the same passion for challenging the status quo and is not afraid of adopting exponential thinking to help turn ambition into action.
How do you feel about the future for Africa and the Middle East and what advantages, or opportunities do these areas have over other parts of the world?
Africa is closely watched as the next big growth market – a description that has persisted for a while. The continent boasts the world’s largest free trade area (a 1.2-billion-person market), is the fastest urbanising continent, and is home to some of the youngest populations in the world. It is already a global leader in mobile money, with the sub-Saharan region alone being responsible for over 45 per cent[2] of mobile money payments in the world.
The continent continues to create a digital ecosystem which particularly serves as a multiplier of growth, given the access to smart phones and other devices that enhance consumer information, networking, job-creating resources and even financial inclusion. Probably unknown to many, Kenya and Uganda were the first countries to introduce mobile payments in the mid-2000s. And it is the continent’s early history with mobile payments that is paving the way for it to become a frontrunner in e-commerce, with the market estimated to double in size to USD75 billion by 2025[3]. We expect this trend in digitisation to continue across the continent.
There are also significant opportunities in terms of agriculture, with the continent possessing 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, and valuable investment opportunities across Africa’s abundant natural resources such as oil, gold, and platinum. At the same time, we are also seeing a move away from extractive industries to areas such as energy and telecommunications, with a plethora of markets being seen as emerging financial-technology hubs. These are promising signs that demonstrate the gradual move of the content towards a maturing economy with greater reliance on skill-based labour. However, for Africa to be seriously considered as a continent of opportunity, it is key that it comes together to address deep and structural reforms in the form of political stability and policy coordination, in addition to improving ease of doing business, attracting foreign direct investment, and the progress on making the African Continental Free Trade Area a functioning regional economic bloc.
The Middle East markets are increasingly diversifying their sectors, with the UAE’s ‘Make it in the Emirates’ initiative accelerating the country’s industrial sector transformation into a global manufacturing hub – aiming to push the industrial’s sector contribution to Dh300 billion by 2031 across 11 priority sectors in the country[4]. Moreover, Saudi Arabia, as part of its Vision 2030 – is a large and attractive market that will continue to open up, and encourage private sector participation, which will mean our global and regional customers will have the opportunity to participate in sectors like healthcare, education, entertainment and infrastructure.
Across these markets, we also see significant opportunities for collaboration and innovation, through digital banking, ecosystem banking and blended finance, to attract and direct additional capital to our markets. Digitisation of business and digital transformation of supply chains in the Middle East are under way and intend to improve data accuracy and transparency, help businesses anticipate risk and prevent loss, and improve supply chain efficiencies. The UAE, Qatar, KSA and Bahrain for example are leading the way to adopting digital banking and are also collaborating with Fintechs to capture this segment of digital-first services to customers, with strong government support to set up favourable regulatory environments.
