Traditional banking is under pressure to adapt as society continues to not only evolve digitally, but also increasingly accelerate by emerging technology and innovation.
With digital transformation taking place at a rapid pace, banks are undergoing significant changes to meet the evolving needs of customers and stay ahead of the innovation curve – particularly with fintech moving into the traditional financial services sector. Oftentimes, the out-of-the-box fintech solutions offered by nimble start-ups have proven their worth to investors and, ultimately, in the adoption by banks. The innovation, however, remains external.
It’s not quite the same story for Standard Chartered Bank, though. With a business unit that invests time and money into innovation and start-ups to build pioneering solutions while developing valuable partnerships with a broad spectrum of technology services providers, Standard Chartered Bank has a significant and unique competitive advantage as a result of the SC Ventures platform.
SC Ventures is the bank’s response to the rapid acceleration of the fintech space, with Thorsten Neumann leading technology function – which is always in the market for new fintech and technology adoption. Currently, the platform is fully invested in leveraging the Bank’s capabilities, with a portfolio of over 30 ventures at different stages working to fill the monetizable gaps in the market.
