Standard Chartered Brunei keeps focus on digitalisation and sustainability

Aki Ismasufian, CEO of Standard Chartered Brunei, discussed the bank’s business performance, strategic focus, and key developments in Brunei’s financial sector, around digital transformation, institutional cash and treasury management, sustainability, and the challenges facing the industry.

Ismasufian highlighted the bank’s core concentration on retail banking and wealth management, underlining its commitment to serving individual customers and assisting them in managing their financial assets effectively, while also providing cash management services for corporate and institutional clients, leveraging the group’s network capabilities.

Ismasufian also emphasised the bank’s digital transformation and its evolution into a digitally-focused bank with continuous investment and enhancements in both its retail and business digital banking platforms, leveraging its capabilities in banking-as-a-service to collaborate with other financial institutions and enhance digital banking experiences.

Participating in the National Digital Payment Network, Standard Chartered is keen to contribute to the country’s digital payment ecosystem. This will pave the way for the country to join the ASEAN regional payment connectivity initiative. Ismasufian anticipates that participation in these networks will accelerate the growth of digital commerce and e-commerce within the country.

Standard Chartered is also focused on sustainability and its global initiatives to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and net-zero emission by 2050. Ismasufian stressed the imperative to expedite the achievement of sustainability goals, but he also sees the need to accelerate opportunities for diversification in other industries such as downstream and manufacturing derivatives, to name a few.

He also acknowledged the need to foster entrepreneurship in Brunei, noting that the pace of economic growth can be accelerated. He also highlighted the importance of financial inclusion in driving economic progress.