Millennial banking doesn’t always fit the traditional banking mould. How is Standard Chartered looking to tap this segment?
Millennials are not looking for a bank — they are looking for a service and they will get it from whoever will give it to them in a friendly, timely and convenient manner.
Millennials typically rely on technology to complete their everyday needs. They tend to place a higher premium on convenience, preferring to use mobile banking solutions over visiting a physical branch or calling into a telephone contact centre. This digitally savvy generation is also more likely to take up cashless payment solutions, which integrate seamlessly into mobile devices to make transactions simpler.
Standard Chartered is well positioned to meet the needs of our millennial clients, who today make up nearly a quarter of our portfolio. We’re evolving in sync with millennials’ fast-paced, digitally connected lives by providing solutions to make banking easier and create space for personal advice for more complex transactions.
As part of our talent development, we are hiring millennials and accelerating their growth in the organisation to take up critical decision-making positions. We believe they know better what millennials want and how they are evolving as millennials themselves. We obviously guide and support their ideas with our wealth of experience and tapping into our global network.
Millennials want financial products to be integrated into their lifestyle. How is your bank doing this?
We continue to build products and capabilities to make banking easier and meet the demands of this rapidly growing segment of millennials.
As part of our talent development, we are hiring millennials and accelerating their growth in the organisation to take up critical decision-making positions. We believe they know better what millennials want and how they are evolving as millennials themselves.
In 2018, we launched SC Mobile 2.0, a cutting-edge upgrade to our mobile banking app, which allows customers to complete a variety of transactions including online bill payments and convenient request services. Through SC Mobile, customers can also complete domestic as well as cross-border transfers securely and in real time. We were among the first international banks in the UAE to launch the major wallet solutions, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay giving customers the flexibility to complete mobile transactions faster and through the wallet partner of their choice.
We will continue to invest in expanding these functionalities to evolve with our customers’ changing lifestyles and needs.
How does Standard Chartered plan to integrate its products to meet the key life moments of its millennial customers in the UAE?
Standard Chartered takes pride in helping our customers meet their dreams and ambitions, especially with our wealth management products. Our advisory-led wealth management approach, built on an open architecture model, allows us to offer our clients unbiased investment advice and solutions from the top players in the market that fit their individual needs. So whether a millennial client is just starting out and wants to grow their wealth, or is looking for a longer-term investment for their children’s education, our team of wealth advisors can offer tailored product solutions for that particular need.
What new products are you planning to roll out to this segment in the future?
Just two months ago, we launched our Platinum X credit card, a market trendsetter specifically targeting the digitally savvy and emerging affluent millennials segment.
The Platinum X card is the first and only credit card in the UAE that rewards clients with cashback of up to 10 per cent when they spend online, in foreign currency, and via mobile wallet.
Standard Chartered will continue in this tradition of building innovative products and solutions aimed at making the lives of our millennial clients simpler and better.
Apart from launching new products, Standard Chartered is heavily involved in financial literacy. Our employees volunteer to share financial education to young people across many of geographies. We believe financial literacy is the foundation for financial inclusion and utilisation of all financial services and products.
