Foremost lender, Standard Chartered, is planning to disrupt the banking industry with its digital bank.

It said it has spent over $3 billion on technology.

Its Chief Executive Officer, Lamin Manjiang, who spoke at the unveiling of the bank's first digital bank in the country, tagged: Capturing the Digital the Initiative (CDI), said though the lender doesn't announce the breakdown of individual investments, over $3bilion has so far been spent between the last three and five years.'It is really about making easy, convenient and secure for our clients and we think we are spending what we need to spend to achieve this,' he said.

He said Nigeria is strategic to the bank's business and will remain so.

According to him, the country is the bank's biggest territory in terms of revenue and profit.

He also unveiled Burna Boy as the lender's brand ambassador, saying he shared so much with the bank.

He said the digital platform will enable the bank to play in the retail area and will give it competitive advantage in the country.

'Africa is strategically important region where we have been investing steadily over the years. Nigeria is ranked the 26th largest economy in the world and the largest in Africa. Nigeria accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the continent's gross domestic product (GDP) of about 75 per cent of the West Africa economy. We believe the CDI proposition is a great opportunity for a large market and one of Africa'slargest economy,' Manjiang said.

According to him, the country's banking market is developed with FinTechs, banks as well as telcos playing active roles in the digital banking ecosystem.

He said: 'USSD has pushed the envelope of mobile payments in the past 24 months and there would be more disruption in the financial space in the future.

A digital approach made sense for Nigeria given the market demand for technology and innovation in banking; growing youths demographic requiring informed guidance around creating and sustaining walth; and the opportunity to drive financial inclusion for the unbanked.'

He said Standard Chartered is on branch optimisation and efficiency drive where digital marketing, Web and mobile, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual and voice contact centre become the interface between the bank and the customer.

This strategy, he said is about empowering the customer to bank on their terms any time any where.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan