Aman Narain, Group Head of Internet and Mobile Banking, said: "In the most extensive redesign undertaken to date of Standard Chartered's online consumer banking services, we aimed to create a user experience that is even more intuitive and personalised for our customers. With the smartphone and tablet revolution resulting in the explosion of mobile browsing, Standard Chartered has launched a fully responsive, device agnostic internet banking website which works just as beautifully on computers, tablets and smartphones. Our new responsive web design sets the standard for the banking industry by allowing content to orient around different devices or browsers without the need to develop multiple versions. This provides not only a better and more consistent user experience, but also a more efficient and cost effective way for the Bank to provide information and serve our customers."

Sanjeeb Chaudhuri, Regional Head of Consumer Banking South East Asia, said: "Standard Chartered selected India as the first market for the global launch of our new consumer banking websites in recognition of the country's growing segment of globally-connected customers who are on-the-go, tech-savvy, socially networked and who demand transaction freedom. In addition to its more intuitive and user-friendly interface, the new website also includes integration to key social media sites to facilitate better information sharing."

In tech-savvy India, mobile internet traffic has reached 60%, surpassing desktop internet traffic, which has declined to 40% (source: Mary Meeker at Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, May 2012). India's smartphone market is expected to grow by over 60% this year with 26.5 million handsets forecasted to be shipped to the market in 2013 (Canalys, Report: Developing markets will drive smart phone market growth in 2013, Jan 2013) making it the world's fifth largest smartphone market after China, USA, Japan and Brazil.

The launch of Standard Chartered India's new consumer banking website, standardchartered.co.in, marks the beginning of a more unified customer experience which will extend across the Bank's digital channels including its Breeze suite of award-winning mobile banking and lifestyle applications --making banking easier and even more convenient anywhere, anytime.

New and improved consumer banking websites will be gradually rolled out in 2013 across key markets including mainland China, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and the UAE -- a tangible reflection of the Bank's ongoing commitment to deliver a superior, unified customer experience across all channels.