StanChart opens pvt banking hub in Chennai

Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) has opened a global private banking hub in Chennai to cater to the wealth management business of high net worth individuals (HNIs) such as entrepreneurs and senior executives with investible wealth of over $1 million.

The bank's captive BPO subsidiary, Scope International Pvt Ltd, would manage the new private banking hub as a unit of its consumer banking vertical.

The hub would cater to the requirements of HNIs in Jersey, Singapore, India, Hong Kong and the UAE, said Sreeram Iyer, chief executive officer, Scope International.

The hub will employ 65 persons in the next six months with 30 per cent increase in employee strength annually, as it delivers a wide range of financial solutions designed to meet individual customer needs.

"Process efficiency and quality, fast turnaround and multi-tasking are the three outcomes we are looking for delivering transactional and high-end financial services to HNIs," Premod Thomas, chief operating officer, Standard Chartered Private Bank, said.

Private banking has emerged as a strong growth engine for the bank as it runs ten private banking hubs worldwide for HNIs, including two in New Delhi and Mumbai.

The scope for private banking in India, with over 100,000 dollar millionaires, is huge, according to Thomas.

In the country's fragmented private banking market, where no player holds more than a 2 per cent share, Standard Chartered planned to grow its stake in the private banking space by adding "further degrees of value" through strong marketing and expertise in process design and execution, Thomas said.

Standard Chartered Private Bank is an extension of SCB's wealth management and private banking businesses integrated with consumer banking.

While providing tailor-made banking solutions to HNIs, the bank is also leveraging its existing wholesale bank, SME and customer base.