A ‘QUANTUM LEAP’ IN TRANSACTION BANKING
Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank by
assets, is acutely aware of the need to evolve,
and of the opportunities to harness technologies
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computing and data analytics to improve the lives
and experiences of its clients.
The Quantum Leap innovation programme,
launched in 2019 by our Transaction Banking
division, is a key initiative under Standard Bank’s
broader digitisation agenda that is focusing on the
client experience – particularly in the trade and
payments spaces.
The Quantum Leap team’s mandate is to reimagine
transaction banking by operating as a new
entrant, unencumbered by existing processes and
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partners and clients to develop new solutions
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already shown it is capable of delivering new
client solutions within a matter of months – from
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The programme represents a fundamental shift
in the philosophy of how we deliver transactional
services to clients, and we view it as a means to
make quantum advances, rather than traditional
incremental ones. This is necessary in a continent
where more than half of the population remains
unbanked.
The unit is piloting a payments platform that
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payments in South Africa, Uganda and
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time in partnership with clients, before being rolled
out on a larger scale. It is a response to Africa’s
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platforms and the aim is to help facilitate seamless
business and corporate transactions across and
into the continent.
Another initiative, QuantumTrade, was developed
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platform on which clients can instruct the bank to
issue domestic guarantees and import letters of
credit using a process that is completely digital –
from application to issuance.
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can take days or even weeks, since documents
have to physically change hands. It is costly and
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Africa’s trade sectors. With QuantumTrade, the
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an average of just 25 minutes. The platform also
instantly issues draft letters of credit to clients to
facilitate supplier negotiations and speed up the
entire process.
The platform is being piloted in Uganda and used
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as large corporates. By October, we aim to fully
digitise all client transactions focused on letters of
credit and guarantees in the country. Later in the
year, we aim to take the solution to Mozambique,
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Quantum Leap will enable us to become more
deeply embedded in the lives of our clients,
boosting our ability to ensure they succeed.
Our vision is for Quantum Leap to become the
new model for transaction banking in, for and
across Africa.SPONSORED CONTENTE
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fail to disrupt themselves in the digital era
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clients better and faster.
Hasan Khan
Global Head of Transactional Products
and Services | Standard Bank Group