Standard Chartered Plc is closing about half its Nigerian branches in a pivot to digital banking, according to Bloomberg, as the finance industry comes under pressure from mobile money providers.
The London-listed lender’s local unit has already started to shut some offices in December and will eventually operate only 13 branches in the West African nation, a document seen by Bloomberg News showed, down from about 25 previously.
Standard Chartered is instead strengthening mobile banking and recruiting agents to reach new customers and handle cash deposits and withdrawals across Africa’s biggest economy, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly.
In 2020, Standard Chartered announced that it was going fully digital a fully digital bank and has since gradually closed most of its branches in Uganda. The transition meant that StanChart customers now solely rely on the SC Mobile App, Online Banking Platform, Digital Banking units, Agent Banking, Cash Deposit Machines and increasing the ATM network for all their banking needs.
Standard Chartered has focused on corporate banking since establishing a presence in Nigeria in 1999. But it’s recently looked to expand its retail base and outlined a target in 2019 to grow the number of its customers fivefold from 100,000 in about two years by using digital technology to onboard clients faster.
The lender also plans to start digital lending to process small loans quicker and increase the volume of retail credit, according to the people.
Source: Bloomberg Africa
