Standard Bank is at the forefront of digital transformation, adapting to the rapid growth in digital adoption by shifting its major technology expenditures from hardware to software, cloud, talent and subscription IT models. This strategic move has enabled the bank to report a 28% increase in digital transactions while containing cost growth at just 2%.
Jorg Fischer, Chief Information Officer at Standard Bank, commented on this transformation: “Our focus on digital and cloud-based solutions has allowed us to reduce investment in on-premises infrastructure and lower capital expenditure. This transition is crucial for us to remain competitive and meet the evolving needs of our customers.”
Over the past few years, Standard Bank has seen a significant shift in how it allocates its IT resources and budget. The bank’s decisions and future strategies have been driven by several key factors:
Regulatory Compliance and Security: Ensuring robust security measures and compliance with regulatory standards.
Customer Expectations: Meeting the growing demand for seamless and efficient digital banking experiences.
Cost Efficiencies: Optimising expenditures to achieve greater financial efficiency.
Standard Bank has partnered with major cloud service providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure to leverage cloud computing. This collaboration aims to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale. By adopting cloud technology, Standard Bank aims to improve its operational efficiency, enhance data management, and accelerate the deployment of new services.
These investments in AI and cloud computing are part of Standard Bank’s broader strategy to drive digital transformation, improve customer experience, and stay competitive in the evolving financial landscape. Customers are already experiencing the benefits of AI through enhanced features on the Banking App as an example, or are being serviced in the back office by AI or robotics.
Jorg Fischer added, “We are actively focusing on strengthening our core infrastructure, system stability, and security to deliver best-in-class client platforms. Our investments in core banking systems, modernising client platforms, Customer Relationship Management Systems, AI-enabled contact centers, and enabling platforms are all part of this strategy.”
As a consequence of embracing cloud and AI technologies, Standard Bank is seeing lower capitalised expenditure while continuing to invest in its people and software to support improvements in security and stability of client platforms. However, the bank does face higher cloud subscription costs. The benefits include reduced investment in on-premises IT infrastructure and lower capitalised expenditure resulting from the transition to cloud-based solutions.
Despite higher cloud subscription costs, the bank continues to invest in security software and sees increases in costs for software services, licensing, and subscription services.
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