Standard Chartertered has signed a three-year deal with Microsoft as part of its ambition to become a 'cloud-first' bank.
Like many of its peers, Standard Chartered is adopting a multi-cloud approach, where significant applications, including its core banking and trading systems and new digital ventures such as virtual banking and banking as-a-service, will be cloud-based by 2025. The bank says it will also adopt a cloud-first principle for all new software developments and major enhancements.
The deal with Microsoft defines Azure as a preferred cloud platform, addressing customers’ security, privacy and compliance requirements across the bank’s global footprint.
Bhupendra Warathe, chief technology officer, cloud transformation at Standard Chartered, comments: “The speed and scale of continuous innovation offered by Azure allows us to innovate with the latest AI services to meet evolving client needs. We can pilot new apps in one market and scale them rapidly across others. This is especially important for a bank with a footprint as broad and diverse as ours.”
The first set of capabilities to move to Microsoft Azure will be Standard Chartered’s trade finance systems, allowing for seamless cross-border trade for the bank’s corporate and institutional clients.
The partnership will also advance the bank’s digital workplace transformation with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams providing productivity and collaboration tools to Standard Chartered’s 84,000 employees across its 60 markets.
Michael Gorriz, Group CIO, says: "MOX, our digital bank in Hong Kong, has all of its systems born in cloud only. Another example is, our new Global Payments system, scPay which is fully cloud native and handles high-value as well as micropayments for the e-commerce world. By having our applications on cloud, we are also able to develop new business models and offer a broader portfolio of services by integrating with Fintech partners, our clients and marketplaces, like e-commerce platforms, ride hailing ecosystems or super apps. New apps can be piloted in one market and scaled up rapidly across others which is especially important for a bank with a footprint as diverse as ours."