Shifts in Cross-Border Strategies Adopted by Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered Sharpens Cross-Border Focus with Stablecoins and Digital Asset Integration
Standard Chartered, one of the world's most cross-border payments-focused banks, has announced its refined strategy to leverage stablecoins and digital asset integration for faster, cheaper, and more efficient transactions. This strategic move is part of the bank's Q3 2024 results, which show a growing emphasis on its Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) segment, contributing to cross-border payments.
The bank's key strategies include implementing stablecoin-based payment solutions, seamlessly integrating digital assets with traditional banking, forging strategic partnerships with fintechs and blockchain innovators, and innovating transaction financing and market access.
Standard Chartered is participating in initiatives like the Circle Payments Network to enable real-time settlement and stablecoin-to-fiat transfers in major corridors such as Brazil and Mexico. The bank is also on the verge of launching a Hong Kong dollar-pegged stablecoin aimed at streamlining cross-border and domestic payments with enhanced security and efficiency.
The bank emphasizes immediate transfer of value and liquidity by supporting the flow of digital assets into usable cash, enabling clients to manage digital asset holdings effectively for payroll, supplier payments, and treasury management. Collaborations with major crypto exchanges like OKX create unique propositions combining institutional bank safety with exchange liquidity.
Standard Chartered actively collaborates with fintech players and emerging Web3 firms to enhance payment infrastructure, embrace APIs for real-time service delivery, and develop regulated fiat-backed stablecoins that bridge legacy finance and blockchain innovation.
Beyond payments, Standard Chartered structures novel financial transactions, such as the Merchant Voucher Receivables program with Banesco Panama, demonstrating advanced capital markets solutions that support international business activities in cross-border contexts.
The bank is aiming to increase the cross-border share of income in its CIB segment from 61% in 2023 to around 70% in the medium term. Similar cross-border-focused moves are planned for the Wealth & Retail Banking segment. The bank characterizes itself as cross-border focused at a high level and is focusing on larger global clients who rely on its unique cross-border capabilities.
To fund its cross-border focus initiatives, the bank is considering selling a small number of businesses that are no longer fully aligned with its business goals, particularly those focused on mass retail banking. The bank is also planning to exit around 3,000 CIB clients who do not align with its cross-border-focused goals.
In Q3, the company did not break out direct cross-border contributions to revenue. The refinement of Standard Chartered's banking segments is aimed at improving its cross-border focus. The bank's overall CIB operating income grew by 3% YoY to reach $2.9bn for the quarter.
The bank places cross-border payments at the center of its strategy, looking to make strategic moves that will position it as a leader in the digital payments landscape.
- Standard Chartered continues to prioritize its Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) segment, focusing on cross-border transactions by leveraging stablecoins and integrating digital assets into traditional banking for efficient, cost-effective, and faster cross-border payments, thereby boosting its finance and investing activities.
- The bank's strategic initiatives include forging partnerships with fintechs, blockchain innovators, and crypto exchanges to enhance transaction financing and market access, as well as engaging in business divestment to fund its focus on cross-border businesses, with a goal to increase the CIB segment's cross-border share from 61% in 2023 to around 70% in the medium term, positioning itself as a leader in the digital business landscape.
