Standard Chartered Bank receives Global Finance awards for Best Consumer Internet Bank

Standard Chartered has announced that it has been awarded “Best Consumer Internet Bank – UAE” and “Best in Social Media – Regional Sub-category winner” at the 12th edition of Global Finance’s annual “World’s Best Internet Banks Awards”. Winners of the prestigious World’s Best Internet Banks Awards were evaluated by a world-class panel of judges, including Global Finance editors who were responsible for the final selection of winners.

Standard Chartered Bank has been recognised for its efforts to drive customer usage of its internet banking facilities and for being the first bank to use dedicated social media channels to communicate with customers. The bank has revealed that up to 24 per cent of its customer base is now enrolled for online banking, while 45 per cent of monthly banking transactions are now initiated online. In addition, the bank has over 24,000 fans on its facebook page which was set up in November 2009, and has a twitter account which tweets the latest announcements, promotions and offers. Standard Chartered has a dedicated team that manages its online communication and social media channels. These channels form an ideal platform to provide customer care, get customer feedback and communicate the latest promotions and offers.

Mohammed AlMazemi, General Manager Branch Sales and Services, Standard Chartered UAE said: "These awards come as a testament to our leadership in introducing innovative services and communications channels to further improve our customer service and reinforce our customer focus strategy. We will continue to improve our online channels and utilise the power of social networks to realise our vision of becoming the world’s best international bank: Leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.”

Standard Chartered has developed a user-friendly interface that allows customers to easily access online services such as online bill payments, online fund transfers, online viewing of loan details and investment portfolio. The bank has also introduced unique online banking features such as the “Global Link”, which allows users to “pull” information on their relationship with Standard Chartered from a different market and to easily transfer funds from one market to the other.

Winners of “Global Finance’s World’s Best Internet Banks awards” were selected based on strength of strategy for attracting and servicing online customers, success in getting clients to use web offerings, growth of online customers, breadth of product offerings, evidence of tangible benefits gained from internet initiatives, and web site design and functionality. Headquartered in New York, with offices in London and Milan, Global Finance is a financial magazine with a circulation of over 50,000 and readers in 163 countries.