E-Banking Strategies of Standard Charter Bank

 Origin of the Paper

This report is an Internship Report prepared as a requirement for the completion of the MBA Program of the Department of Finance & Banking, Green University of Bangladesh. The primary goal of internship is to provide an on the job exposure to the student and an opportunity for translation of theoretical conceptions in real life situation. Students are placed in enterprises, organizations, research institutions as well as development projects. The program covers a period of 3 months of organizational attachment.

After the completion of MBA program, I, Khandaker Faisal-E-Elahi MBA Internship, was placed in Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh for the internship program under the guidance of my faculty advisor. The duration of my organizational attachment was, by policy. As a requirement for the completion of the program I needed to submit this report, which would include an overview of the organization I was attached with and elaboration of the project I was supposed to conduct during the internship period.

I was placed in the Transaction Banking of the Bank, under the direct supervision of Mirza Aminur Rahmah, the head Transaction Banking of Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh.

  Scope:

The scope of this report is limited to the overall descriptions of the bank, its services, its position in the industry, and its competitive advantage. The scope is also defined by the organizational set-up, functions, and performances.

Methodology & Source of Information

In the organization part, much information has been collected from different published articles, journals, brochures, web sites and previous internship report. All the information incorporated in this report has been collected both from the primary sources and as well as from the secondary sources.

Primary Source of Information

  Discussion with officials of SCB

  Face to face and telephone conversations with customers

  Data from the company’s documents and SCB’s computerized information system

Secondary Sources of Data

  Previous reports and journals relevant to the banking industry

  Other published documents of Bangladesh Bank

  Relevant SCB paper and published documents

Limitations:

Past and present financial information that are confidential could not be accurately obtained. Alike all other banking institutions, SCB is also very conservative and strict in providing financial information. In such cases, I have relied upon certain assumptions, which are only amateur estimates. As many of the analysis on the obtained data are based on my sole interpretation, there may be some biases, as lack of knowledge and depth of understanding might have hindered my ability to produce an absolutely authentic and meaningful report.

Time constraint was another limitation restricting this report to be a more detailed and analytical one. My supervisors are busy all the time and it was really difficult to get hold of some of their time.

Banking Industry-Overview

The Banking Industry is Bangladesh is one characterized by strict regulations and monitoring from the central governing body, the Bangladesh Bank. The chief concern is that currently there are far too many banks for the market to sustain. As a result, the market will only accommodate only those banks that can transpire as the most competitive and profitable ones in the future.

Currently, the major financial institutions under the banking system include:

• Bangladesh Bank
• Commercial Banks
• Islamic Banks
• Leasing Companies
• Finance Companies

Of these, there are four nationalized commercial banks (NCB), 5 specialized banks, 11 foreign banks, 26 domestic private banks and 4 Islamic Banks currently operating in Bangladesh.

All local banks must maintain a 4% Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR), which is non-interest bearing and a 16% Secondary Liquidity Requirement (SLR). With the liberalization of markets, competition among the banking products and financial services seems to be growing more intense each day. In addition, the banking products offered in Bangladesh are fairly homogeneous in nature due to the tight regulations imposed by the central bank.

Competing through differentiation is increasingly difficult and other banks quickly duplicate any innovative banking service.

PART-2

STANDARD CHARTERED BANK

Ethics Of Standard Chartered Bank

Standard Chartered reputation is critical to being the world’s leading emerging markets bank. The preservation and enhancement of that reputation depends upon our businesses operating to the highest standards of ethical conduct.

We face a particular challenge to uphold consistent standards of conduct while at the same time respecting the culture and varying business customs of all the countries in which we operate.

The principles that govern the behaviour of our business and employees are reflected in a Group Code of Conduct. The Group Code of Conduct is a practical working document which guides employees through the many difficult conduct issues which confront them on a daily basis. Complying with each element of the Code will not always be easy but we recognize that we will be judged not just by what is set out in the Code but on how this is reflected in our day to day activities and the behaviour of all of you.

Standard Chartered Bank in Bangladesh

The Chartered Bank started operating in Bangladesh in 1948, opening a branch in Chittagong.  The branch was opened mainly to facilitate the post-war reestablishment and expansion of South and Southeast Asia.  The Chartered Bank opened another branch in Dhaka in 1966, where it is still headquartered. After the merger of the Chartered Bank with the Standard Bank in 1969, the Standard Chartered Bank took up a program of expansion.  It increasingly invested in people; technology and premises as its business grew in relation to the country’s economy.  In 1993, there was an organizational re-structuring, which led to a substantial expansion of the Bank’s business.

Performance and Growth

The change in strategy, performance and growth, adapted by Standard Chartered Bank is clearly evident in the following comparison between its performance in 1995 to that in 2002.

All the foreign banks combined hold 9% in deposits as compared to 29% by private commercial banks and 62% by nationalized commercial banks.

The comparative performance (holding market share) of Standard Chartered

From the above figure we see that of the 9% held by foreign banks in total deposits, SCB alone commands 40% of the deposits.

In terms of advances made, Standard Chartered Bank holds the leading position among the foreign banks with a market share of approximately 35%.

 Activities of Standard Chartered Bank

• Ø Corporate Banking Group

Standard Chartered Bank offers it local customer’s wide variety of financial services. All the accounts of corporate clients, which mainly comprises the top local and multinational companies operating in Bangladesh, are assigned to Relationship managers who maintain regular and close contact to cater top their needs.

The objective of this department is to maintain a thorough knowledge of the clients’ business and to develop positive relations with them. This is maintained through interactions to offer timely advice in a n increasingly competitive business environment. The expertise of the Institutional Banking and Treasury groups is also available whenever required. The unique Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) in Savar provides a full range of facilities to overseas investors. The Corporate Banking Group in Bangladesh has displayed a spirit of community involvement by working with NGOs to underwrite soft loans. Standard Chartered offers its corporate customers a wide variety of lending needs that are catered with skilled and responsive attention. They provide project finance and investment consultancy, syndicated loans, bonds and guarantees and local and international treasury products.

• Ø Trade finance

The trade finance of standard Chartered bank takes care of the commercial activity related issues, particularly those related to import and export finance services. Some of the services are:

• Trade finance facilities including counseling, confirming export L/C and issuing of import L/Cs, backed by its international branch and correspondent loan network.
• Bond and Guarantees
• Project finance opportunities for import substitution and export oriented projects
• Ø Treasury

The foreign exchange and money market operation of the Standard Chartered Bank in the world is extensive. Exotic currencies happen to be one of its special areas of strength. A 24-hr service is provided to customers in Bangladesh through the Bank’s network of dealing centers placed in the principal areas of the world. The Bank’s treasury specializes in offering solutions to those who wish to manage  interest rate and currency exposure s that result from trade, investment and financing activities of other dynamic economies of the region.

• Ø Institutional Banking Group

The IBG of Standard Chartered Bank offers a wide variety of products and services to banks and financial institutions. It has global links with leading bank institutions and agency arrangements through its network of offices in 40 countries. The Bank offers a full range of clearing, payment collection and import-export handling services. The bank offers foreign missions, voluntary organizations, consultants, airlines, shipping lines and their personnel, the following services:

Current accounts in both Taka and other major foreign currencies and Convertible Taka accounts.

• Ø Consumer Banking

Superior retail banking services comprising of a wide range of deposit and loan products are offered by Standard Chartered Bank to its individual customers. The consumer banking division constantly faces challenges and meets them by developing new products and services to fulfill the specific requirements of local TU. The Bank offers a 24-hour service in Bangladesh through its Money-link ATM Network and Phone-link Phone banking Services.

• Ø Custodial services: The Equator

Headquartered in Singapore, Standard Chartered equator fulfils the groups’ strategic commitment to the provision of custodial service in Asia. The equator’s customers are primarily foreign global custodians and broker/dealers requiring cross-border information as well as sub-custodian services. Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh is responsible for the planning in Bangladesh, but the overall management of the custody business is based in Equator’s international business strategy.

Support services

• Ø Operations

Operations are the part of the support division that helps to run the businesses of the bank in a smooth and controlled manner.  Since it helps mainly in processing the works of the business units, any mistakes made can be easily detected and on time.  Following are the main functions of the operations department:

Central operations deals with the closing and opening of accounts and other payment and account related processing of the Personal Banking division. Treasury operations help to deal with the processing works of the treasury division. Loan Administration Unit (LAU) deals with the processing of the Corporate Banking division.

Operations also have a department that deals with internal projects that arises from the need to deal with certain problems or to make certain changes.  Following are some examples of projects being dealt with presently:

Ø Finance, Administration and Risk Management

The support department performs the following activities:

±  Administration, audit and back office operation

±  Taking care of taxation and financial control of the Bank

±  Keeping track of overall credit operation

Ø InformationTechnologyCenter

This department is instrumental in the running of all the computerized operations of the bank.  They help in the implementation and generation of computerized reports.  Another duty of the department is to maintain communication with the rest of the world.

Ø Human Resource Department

This department manages recruitment, training and career progression plan.  Standard Chartered Bank highlights the importance of developing its people to create a culture of customer service, innovation, teamwork and professional excellence.

Ø Legal and compliance

In the UK, Standard Chartered Bank is regulated by the Bank of England, while in Bangladesh local banking laws regulate it and rules set by the Ministry of Finance and Bangladesh Bank. The local restriction involves a licence from Bangladesh Bank to operate banking business in Bangladesh.  Standard Chartered Bank complies by the rules and regulations seriously.  It also encourages its staff to conform to an internal culture of ethical behavior and sensitivities to the culture and religion of the country.  There is a mandatory training on Company Code of Conduct for all staff members.

Some of the key areas that the Legal & Compliance department has to take care of are: any kind of legal issues, to advise the CEO regarding all matters and the management on legal and regulatory issues, correspond regulatory compliance issues to MESA Regional Head of Compliance, and supervise internal control (e.g. internal audit).

Ø External Affairs

This department deals with advertising, public relations, promotions, partial marketing which involves disseminating new products and services to customers and above all ensuring service quality.

• Ø Credit

The credit department approves the loans of Corporate Banking division.  The approval is mainly based on the risk analysis of the corporate clients done by the Corporate Banking division.

Part-3

CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS PRODUCTS

Client relationships provides transaction banking, cash management, custody and trade finance services through their strong market networks in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. They provide a bridge to these markets for clients from the U.S and Europe. The services provided are integrated, superior cross-border and local services that enable efficient transaction processing, with reliable financial information.

Transaction Banking

Cash Management Service

The cash management service provides total solutions to improve cash flows. Standard Chartered is highly recognized as a leading cash management supplier across the emerging markets. Cash Management Services cover local and cross border payments, collections, information management, account services and liquidity management for both corporate and institutional customers.

With Standard Chartered’s Cash Management Services, customers always know where their money is. Customers can manage their company’s total financial position right from their desktop computer. They will also be able to take advantage of SCB’s outstanding range of payment, collection, liquidity and investment services and receive reports detailing when and where cash has been moving.

• Clearing Services

With increasing business globalization, your banking network may not have sufficient reach. You may not want to put in the extra infrastructure or resources to expand your network but still want to ensure your clients’ transactions are serviced efficiently. Clearing is one of the important services in which your bank would need support to facilitate your clients’ smooth international trade and cross-border transactions.

Transaction

Standard Chartered possesses 140 years of experience in Trade Finance. SCB’s broad international customer base, professional insight and knowledge of the risks and rewards of international trade earned the bank a unique position in the industry. The bank offers world-class support across the worldwide buyer chain to minimize overall cost, maximize buyer base, and shorten administrative processes.

To enable customers to capture global opportunities, it has a presence in over 40 countries, in addition to the extensive network of overseas banking partners and correspondents.

Standard Chartered has a wide array of financing tools to ease your cash flow burden and help you grow your business.

• Receivables Services

It gives you the financial security to explore new markets overseas or grow your business locally, reducing your risk and cost.

• Import Services

Instead of paying for your imports immediately, Standard Chartered is able to offer you import financing, to finance a drawing under an Import Letter of Credit or Import Bill for Collection, giving you time for the goods to be cleared and resold.

• Export Services

Do you need extra cash for manufacturing or purchasing the goods to fulfill your export order? Do you want to turn the goods into cash as soon as you have them shipped out? Standard Chartered offers you the opportunity to obtain pre-shipment and post-shipment financing. You can now trade with the added confidence of our financial help.

Custody

Standard Chartered Custody and Clearing Services’ combination of local market expertise, with the security offered by being an integral part of one of the world’s leading international banks has garnered an impressive client base which includes leading North American, European and Asian institutions.

Standard Chartered keeps its custody and clearing clients regularly informed of developments relating to securities market infrastructure and custody in Asia through a market information website. This information is available to clients with a registered login name and password. Clients are offered a customized and comprehensive range of products and services, which include:

–      Custodial services

–      Brokerage, clearing and settlement services

–      Securities lending

–      Foreign Exchange

–      Transfer agent for institutional debt and equity offerings

–      Delivery, receipt, settlement, registration and physical safe custody of securities

Lending

To support the local and international business, Standard Chartered offers various services to help with:

–      Loan Structure and Syndication

–      Loan facilities.

• Loan Structure and Syndication

Our leadership in loan syndication stems from ability to forge strong relationships not only with borrowers but also with bank investors. Because we understand our syndicate partners’ asset criteria, we help borrowers meet substantial financing needs by enabling them to reach the banks most interested in lending to their particular industry, geographic location and structure through syndicated debt offerings. Our syndication capabilities are complemented by our own capital strength and by industry teams who bring specialized knowledge to the structure of a transaction.

• Loan facilities

To enhance the ability to meet financial obligations and operate effectively, SCB offers assistance in the form of working capital loans, overdrafts, term loans (including real estate loans and other secured debt), backstops and revolvers. SCB works closely with clients to understand the dynamics of the business so that the bank can anticipate and serve short-term and long-term funding needs in the most efficient manner, drawing from the full range of global resources and capabilities.

Modern banking operations touch almost every sphere of economic activity. Bank credit is a catalyst for bringing about economic development. Without adequate finance there can be no growth or maintenance of a stable output.

There are some standard loan facilities provided by the corporate division of Standard Chartered. These are:

–      Seasonal Loan

–      Term Loan

–      Permanent Working Capital Loan (Asset-based Lending)

        Seasonal Loan-

A seasonal loan is generally defined as a short term, self-liquidating loan. Which means that the funds advanced on a short-term basis are repaid in full when the assets purchased by the funds are converted to cash.  Overdraft, Import Loan, Export Loan, L/C (Machinery), L/C (Raw Materials) , Guarantees etc. are seasonal loans provided by the local corporate division to different customers.

 Overdrafts

An overdraft facility is a revolving borrowing facility repayable on demand, made available concerning a current account. Where permitted by law, a customer can overdraw his current account when any entry is debited to the account for more than the available credit balance on overdraw. Once the limit is utilized, interest will be charged on outstanding utilization on a daily basis.

Overdrafts are flexible for borrowing intended to finance day to day cash flow requirements generated to normal business activity. They are not intended for the financing of long term borrowing requirements for which more appropriate credit lines are available.

Overdraft facilities are uncommitted. The bank has the right to cancel the facility and demand repayment without prior written notice to the customer.

The typical tenor of an overdraft is one day. However, the Bank may agree to make overdraft facilities available for longer periods (maximum one year), with annual review/renewal and subject to the Bank’s discretion to suspend/cancel the facility.

Letter of Credit (LC)

When any company needs to import raw materials from abroad then L/C is required. Because they are unknown to foreign supplier. The Importer Company must open L/C in any bank. Then the bank will contact with other bank, which is situated in supplier country. When the bank give financial guarantees to foreign bank through L/C application the foreign bank supplier will send raw material within a time period. Our bank will charge a specific amount for L/C, which is non-funded financing.

L/C is not only for import but also for local transaction. When any company collect raw material from local supplier on credit then L/C is required.

Revolving Loan (RL)

Revolving Loan is a contract between a borrower and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) whereby SCB provides the borrower with a certain amount of currency, for a period more than one year and up to 5 years.

SCB gives the facility of loan to buy the raw material or other trade related products at a specific interest rate. When a manufacturing company does not have the working capital to bear the operating cost, they can collect this money from SCB at a specific interest rate to be repaid after 90/120/150 days. And it will be treated as Revolving Loan.

Loan Against Trust Receipt (LATR)

Advances allowed for retirement of shipping documents and release of goods imported through L/C falls under this head. The goods are handed over to the importer under trust with the arrangement that sale proceeds should be deposited to liquidate the advances within import and known as post- import finance and falls under the category “ Commercial Lending”.

Guarantee

According to the contract act 1872, Guarantee can be defined as a contract to perform the promise or discharge of liability of a third person in case of his default. The person in respite, of whose default the guarantee is given is called principal debtor and the person to whom the guarantee is given is called the creditor. It is an irrevocable undertaking to pay in case of a certain eventually/contingency.

SWOT Analysis of Standard Chartered Bank

The SWOT analysis comprises of the organization’s internal strength and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis gives an organization an insight of what they can do in future and how they can compete with their existing competitors.

 Strengths:

For more than 55 years in Bangladesh, SCB is known to bear the Banking Experience that provides it the strength of being the market leader in the foreign banking sector. Unlike any other multinational bank in Bangladesh, the long-term success of SCB is attributed to this strength of SCB whereas the long-term success of a bank heavily depends on its reputation while dealing with very sensitive commodity like money.

The first bank in Bangladesh to issue Money link (ATM) card is SCB. By grabbing the opportunity that exists in the market SCB, as the market leader, showed the most substantial corporate strength among the foreign banks.

SCB has a bulk of qualified, experienced and dedicated human resources.

SCB is the only one among the foreign banks that has been able to utilize its extensive marketing efforts in order to capture a wide customer base at a very short time.

SCB’s dedication is supreme in providing the best phone banking services in town. It is also keen to provide unmatched and instant 24 hour banking service and has recently opened the Call Centre at LotusKamalTower in Nikunjo, Dhaka.

 In order to exude innovativeness and creativeness, SCB tries its best to come up with customers’ banking problems and solve them. Another recent step taken by them is starting the Evening Banking service, which will be open from 6 pm to 8 pm in the evening. The customer, who has to keep his transactions stopped for 18 hours until the next banking hour arrives, will be benefited, as this will reduce the lag and hassle associated with it.

Weaknesses:

 Banks, who are offering better prospects, now enjoys customers switching to them as SCB offers low deposit rates and has set the minimum balances too high. Furthermore, long waiting cues, moderate customer service, non-functioning ATM machines and outrageously high charges lead to SCB being noted for these weaknesses as well. As a result, a large amount of customers have ceased transactions with the bank. Many customers’ accounts have become overdrawn due to fees that have been charged by the bank’s computer system for as long as three years because they have either simply not cared to close their accounts, or thought that they have been closed automatically.

 The banking industry is now experiencing the contractual employment fever that has started up and SCB has also fallen prey to it. Self-interest of the employees are actually hindering their performance because SCB is employing individuals from other agencies and giving them tough targets to reach and thereby not giving them the full benefits of a permanent employee. For example, many accounts are opened by Direct Sales Executives by luring customers with loans, which they ultimately do not receive, and also opening accounts for customers who can hardly maintain the account and do not even pay the minimum opening amount. Even though SCB is getting benefited in the short run, the implications are long run losses.

During the last 10 years the banking industry has become considerably monopolistic and hence SCB is starting to lose its market share to its rivals due to low barriers to entry, and the local banks’ increasing aggressiveness

SCB is also facing problem in its system of collection and disbursement of cash. Many customers do not bear the proper knowledge as to the process of depositing and withdrawing money. The bank does not take many steps to assist them either. The system of withdrawal and deposit may be new and different from the system the customers have come across at local bank. Many of these customers or people they send to the bank on their behalf, are not educated and hence they face difficulty in the system of deposit or withdrawal. For instance, since the system of deposit is not that vivid, customer often drop the counterfoil of the deposit slip with the main copy into the slip box. Consequently, in many such cases it happened that a smart clerk picked up both the papers and took the money. Then there were no documents left for the bank or the customer to prove that he/she deposited the money.

Because the way SCB makes charges to accounts cannot be properly explained, many customers believe and complain about the unethical banking of SCB.

While dealing with its customers- especially in Consumer Banking, SCB emphasizes more on short-term profits than focusing on the maintenance of a long-term healthy relationship with them. This suffering of SCB from myopia- i.e. shortsightedness leads it to pursue strategies in such a myopic manner, and so in the long run, it may undergo severe losses. Another weakness of the bank that can be sighted as well is Poor coordination and communication between the head office and branches. As the head office undertakes many projects, the activities are hampered due to some activities of the branches. Even after the head office’s carefully thought out action plan for a project, they still face problems in executing because the branches are not well aware of such a project and therefore, their actions do not comply with what is required for the ultimate success of the project.

Opportunities:

Standard Chartered Bank was approved of the permission to start Islami Banking from The Government of Bangladesh. The bank now has a whole new prospect opening up and also the opportunity to introduce a wide array of Islami Banking products. It also has the prospect of expanding its customer base. The country’s growing population is gradually and increasingly learning to adapt to and use the banking service. As the bulk of our population is middle class, and Muslim, different types of Islami Banking products will have a very large and easily pregnable market.

SCB has rigorous credit screening policy and it is over conservative. By freeing their credit screening policy a little, they may be able to pursue many opportunist business ventures. SCB also has a good consumer base that maintains several accounts at once. SCB has the opportunity to keep these customers by reducing its current fees and charges and positioning attractively in middle class segment.

More Branches around Dhaka specially and all over Bangladesh will enable SCB to capture more market share, and hold a stronger competition against local banks.

By offering more attractive interest rates, and lowering the minimum balances eligible for interest, the bank can attract a lot of the old customers who have strewn away to other banks as well as new customers.

Threats:

Increased competition by other foreign banks is a threat to SCB. At present HSBC and CITI Corp are posing significant threats to SCB regarding retail and business banking respectively. Furthermore, the new comers in private sector such as Prime Bank, Dutch Bangla Bank, EXIM Bank, BRAC Bank, Southeast Bank, Mercantile Bank, Social Investment Bank, Islami Bank and Bank Asia are also coming up with very competitive products. With customers shifting to these banks, SCB’s profits, as well as market share is falling, and it faces the threat of being wiped out by competition.

In today’s economy, substantial amount of savings is remaining idle. Currently foreign direct investment in the country is very low. These economic situations of the country indicate political threats.

A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF TRANSACTION BANKING

Introduction

As part of Standard Chartered’s global transaction solutions to Corporate and Institutions, we provide Cash Management, Securities Services and Trade Services through our strong market networks in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. We also provide a bridge to these markets for clients from the U.S and Europe.

They are committed to providing you with

• Integrated, superior cross-border and local services
• Efficient transaction processing
• Reliable financial information
• Innovative products
• World-class clearing services thus ensuring a full suite of transactional products for your needs.

It’s Cash Management Services cover local and cross border Payments, Collections, Information Management, Account Services and Liquidity Management for both corporate and institutional customers.

Cash Management Services:

Cash Management for Corporations:

Collections Services

Comprehensive receivables management solution-

Standard Chartered understands that operating and sustaining a profitable business these days is extremely tough. In an environment of constant changes and uncertainties, most businesses face challenges of costs and efficiency. Key concerns include:

Receivables Management – ensuring receivables are collected in an efficient and timely manner to optimize utilization of funds.

Risk Management – ensuring effective management of debtors to eliminate risk of returns and losses caused by defaulters and delayed payments.

Inventory Management – ensuring efficient and quick turnaround of inventory to maximize returns.

Cost Management – reducing interest costs through optimal utilization of funds.

 Our Solution

The Standard Chartered Collections Solution leverages the Bank’s extensive regional knowledge and widespread branch network across our key markets to specially tailor solutions for your regional and local collection needs.

This Collections Solution, delivered through a standardised international platform, has the flexibility to cater to your local needs, thus enabling you to meet your objectives of reducing costs and increasing efficiency and profitability through better receivables and risk management. The key components of our solution include the following:

Extensive Clearing Network

Guaranteed Credit

Comprehensive MIS

System Integration

Outsourcing of Collection

Liquidity Management

Solutions for efficient management of your funds

A corporate treasurer’s main challenge often revolves round ensuring that the company’s cash resources are utilised to its maximum advantage. You need a partner bank that can help you:

Maximise interest income on surplus balances; minimise interest expense on deficit balances for domestic, regional and global accounts

Minimise FX conversion for cross-currency cash concentration

Customise liquidity management solutions for different entities in different countries

Centralise information management of consolidated account balances

Our Solution

With our global experience and on-the-ground market knowledge, Standard Chartered will help you define an overall cash management strategy which incorporates a liquidity management solution that best meets your needs. Click here for an illustration of our propositions.

Key Features

Based on your needs and the regulatory environment that you are in, you can choose any of the following features:

Physical Sweeping

Notional Pooling

Interest Reallocation

Investment

Payments Services

Global payments solution for efficient transaction processing

Looking to outsource your payments to enable:

4     Efficient processing of all your payables in the most cost effective way

5     Straight through processing both at your end as well as your bank’s back-end

6     Efficient payables reconciliation with minimal effort and delay

7     Quick approval of payments from any location

8     Minimum hindrance to automation due to local language difficulties

Centralised management of payables across departments, subsidiaries and countries

 Our Solution

Standard Chartered’s Straight Through Services (STS) Payments Solution can be tailored to the different payment needs of companies, whatever industry, size or country you may be in. With a comprehensive End-to-end Payment Processing Cycle, STS allows companies to process a variety of payment types, whether they be domestic or international, local or central in different countries, all in a single system file. To realise the benefits of STS, please contact your local Relationship Manager or Cash Management representative.

Cash Management for Financial Institution:

Clearing Services

Making the right connections for financial institutions-

With increasing business globalization, your banking network may not have sufficient reach. You may not want to put in the extra infrastructure or resources to expand your network but still want to ensure your clients’ transactions are serviced efficiently. Clearing is one of the important services in which your bank would need support to facilitate your clients’ smooth international trade and cross-border transactions.

It’s Solution

Standard Chartered’s international network and multi-currency capabilities are well placed to provide you with a seamless service for all your clearing requirements worldwide. Our network extends across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Latin America, the USA and the UK. You can count on our over 150 years of on-the-ground experience to tailor a clearing solution that meets your needs. Standard Chartered is a correspondent banking partner you can trust to make this potentially complicated process much easier for you. Click here to view our international network.

Standard Chartered offers “Best in Class” technology and processes in our clearing services wherever you are, in whichever country you do business and in whatever currency:

Emerging Markets – Asia-Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa

USD

Euro – includes Sterling

We tailor clearing solutions to address your specific needs whether in one or multiple countries, or to complement our other services.

 Continuous Linked Settlement

Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) is the new private sector response to increasing regulatory pressure to reduce foreign exchange settlement risk exposures. The initiative has been live since the end of 2002 and is endorsed by the G10 central banks and lead regulators. The primary objectives of CLS are to eliminate the inherent settlement risk from the current foreign currency settlement processes and to provide a mechanism for containing any systemic risk arising from the failure of a major market participant.

Standard Chartered at the forefront-

Standard Chartered Bank has been deeply committed to this industry initiative since its inception in 1997 and holds full shareholder status in the new Bank. Standard Chartered operates as a full Settlement Member within CLSB and extends comprehensive Third Party services to our customers, enabling them to take full advantage of the settlement risk benefits associated with FX settlement through CLS.

With Standard Chartered’s Cash Management services, you’ll always know your exact financial position. You have the flexibility to manage your company’s complete financial position directly from your computer workstation. You will also be able to take advantage of our outstanding range of Payments, Collections, Liquidity and Investment Services and receive comprehensive reports detailing your transactions. With Standard Chartered, you have everything it takes to manage your cash flow more accurately.

Standard Chartered, established since 1948, is highly reputable in providing flexible and innovative financial services solutions. We adopt a proactive approach in tailoring customised packages to meet our customers’ ever-changing needs. We apply state-of-the-art technology to automate our daily operations and electronic delivery system has been put in place to ensure that transactions are handled swiftly and efficiently. Our dedicated Customer Service Centers are staffed with experienced Cash Products Specialists to ensure that all our customers are well served.

Standard Chartered fully understands the importance of time, convenience and efficiency to the success of your business. We make easy the complex financial world for you and help you maximise every opportunity.

With over 140 years of experience in trade finance and an extensive international branch network, Standard Chartered is committed to help you succeed in every competitive environment. To keep pace with your changing needs, we constantly review our comprehensive products and services, ensuring that a full range of flexible and innovative services is always available for you wherever you trade.

Standard Chartered is highly recognised as a leading cash management supplier across the emerging markets. Our Cash Management Services cover local and cross border payments, collections, information management, account services and liquidity management for both corporate and institutional customers.

They can help you:

• manage the availability of your funds efficiently
• monitor and control the movement of funds
• settle payments to your suppliers in a timely and cost-effective manner.
• capture every investment opportunity to increase your income

 Accounts Services

In Bangladesh, Standard Chartered customers have access to a 18-branch, 6-city, 25-ATM banking network. Customers can operate their accounts through any of our fully automated offices in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Bogra, Khulna and Narayanganj. They can perform Cash deposits and withdrawals, Cheque Deposits, Fund Transfers, make transactional queries, give cheque book requisitions, ask for account statement and pay utility bills.

At Standard Chartered, we provide a wide range of account services for our Corporate Customers. Our Corporate Accounts are managed by dedicated Account Relationship Managers, who maintain regular and close contact with our clients in order to understand their requirements and service them better.

We offer the following types of accounts to our corporate clients:

• Current Accounts—These are checking Taka accounts through which funds can be freely deposited and withdrawn. Corporates typically use them for most of their transactional requirements which includes collections as well as payments. Collections may be in the form of cash, cheques, pay-orders/demand drafts and even inward remittances from abroad. Similarly, payments may be in the form of cash, cheques and other available mechanisms.

• Short Term Deposits (STD)—These are similar to current accounts in operation accept that they do not have checking facilities and they earn interest, which is calculated on a daily balance basis and credited at periodic intervals. The STD account is a useful mechanism to earn interest on idle funds for companies that can not commit fund for longer period of times in Fixed Deposits.

• Fixed Deposit Accounts— Fixed Deposits are for varying tenors; current offerings range from 1 month to 5 years and the interest rate also vary correspondingly.  Fixed deposit accounts can not be used for transactional purposes and interest can only be earned upon the maturity of the deposit.

• Savings Accounts— These accounts are mainly aimed at the individual and are usually offered for Corporate employees. However, Corporate Provident Fund accounts, Gratuity Funds, etc. can also use such accounts, providing statutory appropriate approvals are held.

• Convertible Accounts— The Convertible Account is a checking current account with balances denominated in Taka. Payments or withdrawals from this account can be made in both Taka and Foreign Currencies; however funds deposited must have a foreign currency source. Strict Exchange Control Regulations govern the opening and operation of Convertible Accounts and it is advisable to discuss these in detail with the Bank before opening such accounts.

• Foreign Currency Accounts— In addition to the various local currency accounts, there are two types of Foreign Currency accounts available: a USD/GBP checking Current Account or a USD/GBP Fixed Deposit which is also called a Non-resident Foreign Currency Deposit ( NFCD) and which earn attractive interest rates. Strict Exchange Control Regulations govern the opening and operation of Foreign Currency Accounts and it is advisable to discuss these in detail with the Bank before opening such accounts.

 e-Banking

e-Banking provides you with a full range of reporting capabilities, and a comprehensive range of transaction initiation options. Whether it is cash or trade related, the user-friendly e-Banking customer workstation will provide you with a secure, reliable and effective link between you and your accounts anywhere across the Standard Chartered network with more than 500 offices in more than 50 countries.

Once you have defined your required reporting data into the system, you can display it on the e-Banking workstation or print it. The embedded report generator enables you to customise report formats to suit your particular requirements. e-Banking also incorporates an “events scheduler” which automatically executes tasks for you. Moreover, e-Banking offers Data Export/Import capability to/from other widely used Windows-based software (e.g. text, MS Excel, MS Access etc.).

The following are the key features of e-Banking:

Cash Reporting…

With e-Banking, you not only receive access to your accounts throughout the Bank’s network, you also receive information about movements through your accounts with other banks via the SWIFT multi-bank reporting capability. The user friendly design of e-Banking enables you to view your account details quickly and easily – account balance details, statements, and history information are all available at the touch of a button.

Cash Initiation…

You receive a full range of domestic and cross-border transaction initiation capabilities through e-Banking, including electronic funds transfer as well as paper based payment options such as drafts. e-Banking simplifies the cash input initiation process by providing you with features that improve accuracy and efficiency. These include templates for commonly used transactions; “look-up” tables for frequently used information such as bank, beneficiary and account details; and a “create from previous” capability that allows you to select one of your earlier instructions as a template for your current input.

Trade Initiation…

e-Banking provides you with a full range of trade transaction capabilities including, LC applications, issue, amendments, funds withdrawals, import collections and reimbursement authorizations.

Security & Control…

When making financial transactions electronically, strict security is of the utmost importance, you need to have the right safeguards in place to prevent people without access rights from tampering with the system. Standard Chartered’s e-Banking includes a series of features such as User Authorization, Password Protection, Authentication & Encryption and Tracking transactions through an Audit Trail to ensure data integrity and meet your security needs – all in line with industry-recognized standards.

National Collection Services-NCS

In today’s business climate, it is more important than ever to turn your receivables into funds you can actually use. Standard Chartered’s National Collection Services (NCS) is designed to help corporates with receivable collection requirements across Bangladesh. It provides faster funds availability in a cost-effective manner and improve the company’s liquidity.

NCS offers a centralised system where you can maintain a single concentration account with Standard Chartered for all your countrywide collections.

Comprehensive coverage…

You may deposit cheques at our Correspondent Bank branches (currently 63 locations) in addition to the eighteen (18) Standard Chartered branches in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Narayanganj, Khulna, and Bogra.

Cheque Pick up…

Alternatively, we can arrange for a courier to collect the cheques from your offices at pre-agreed times. We have dedicated support at each location who will maintain close contact with your offices, dealers and distributors. They will collect cheques from these places and deposit them at our correspondent bank branches.

Improve your cash flow…

Your single concentration account in Standard Chartered is credited on a pre-agreed value date for locations where local clearing exists. So there is no more guessing when funds will become available for your use. Moreover, for non-clearing locations, we ensure funds are realised in the shortest possible time. Since NCS quickens the speed of collections compared to the normal clearing/collection process, you can take the advantage of investment opportunities – or reduce your borrowing costs – instead of waiting.

Simplify reconciliation and reduce idle balances…

National Collection Services is designed in such a way that all funds for collection flow into your concentration account. There is no need for multiple local accounts with idle balances, and there is no need to handle multiple, time-consuming reconciliation tasks.

Receive better information…

Your ability to manage your business effectively is dependent on the quality and timeliness of the information you receive. You will promptly receive deposit acknowledgements and your Standard Chartered Concentration Account will be credited on the pre-agreed date (based on the cheque type you have deposited at the designated branches). You can also receive a comprehensive statement, detailing the deposits made at each of the designated branches and the funds due from them.

National Collection Services provides a variety of informative and timely reports to make sure you know what funds are being collected, when, and how – to help you make the most effective decisions regarding your company’s finances. Our informative reports will

• Help you better plan your cash flows
• Support your customer credit control process
• Help you to reconcile your receivables quickly and efficiently

In short, National Collection Services is a simple and reliable solution to your countrywide receivable collection requirements.

ADVANTAGE OF NCS

Opspay

Standard Chartered is proud to present OPSPAY, a service for our Corporate Customers which offers automated bulk transfer (e.g. salary) processing from their corporate accounts. This will result in reduced errors and an overall improvement in your salary payment processing.

OPSPAY processes your Staff Salary Payment by downloading your payment instructions in the form of a Floppy Diskette. The service ensures that appropriate narration is provided for all individual account credits (i.e. salary for the month of xxxxx) in account statements.

This service has the following benefits,

• Time-efficient: We can act on your instructions on the same working day if the Diskette containing the information reaches our concerned department before 11.00 a.m.

• Error-Free: As the instructions will be downloaded directly from the Floppy Diskette, OPSPAY eliminates manual entries and minimizes the possibilities of any errors.

• Value-date: Funds transferred through this service are immediately available at all our branches and ATMs

All you need to do is send us the salary transfer instruction in an Excel File that should contain the following information:

 Full Account No.  Account Name & Salary Amount

The diskette should be accompanied by a written authorization, which will be used to validate the soft-copy details.

The combined network of Standard Chartered Bank (18 branches, 25 ATMs) and a hundred-year old heritage in Bangladesh places us in a unique position to support your banking needs. Our branch network now covers Dhaka, Narayanganj, Chittagong, Sylhet, Bogra, and Khulna, which  are linked through on-line-Banking services enabling you to operate your account of from any one of our branches or 24-hour ATMs.

Our offer includes a vast range of financial products and services complemented by a designated Relationship Manager to manage your requirements with personalized care.

Premium Service-Banking

Premium Service-Banking offers you a choice of service improvements which can be tailored to your individual business needs. These service enhancements collectively allow you to manage your business finances and cash resources more effectively and conveniently. It comprises of the following six modules—

Courier

The Bank will provide you with the convenience and security of a daily courier pick-up and delivery service at your premises for your routine-Banking transactions. The service is available for non-cash transactions like  cheque deposits, trade finance documents, payment instructions, statements and cheque book requests.

Auto-Fax Reports

A comprehensive Daily Account Statement covering detailed transaction information will be made available to customers via fax every morning. It will contain complete transaction details up to the close of business of the previous day to facilitate better financial management of your precious cash resources.

Hotline (A Single Point of Contact)

This facility provides you with a single window into the bank for all your transactional banking enquiry. Premium Service-Banking customers will have access by fax or by phone to an exclusive Corporate Service Unit (CSU) in the Bank’s Office at Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dedicated personnel are available to handle a full range of transactional banking enquiry relating to balances, account statements, cheque payment status and other transactions.

Inward Remittance Information Service

The bank will pro-actively provide you with a fax report detailing all Inward SWIFT payment messages received by the Bank for your accounts with us. For the first time you will get to know about the receipt of such remittances even before they are processed in the bank. These messages will provide you with complete remittance details including amount and remitter information.

Express Payments­­

In case you miss our daily courier or urgently need to send  a telex or draft, we offer you an alternative; initiate your request for a payment via your fax machine. What is more, for Premium Service-Banking customers, the Bank commits to initiate remittance transactions for telex/SWIFT transfer instructions received by 1:00 p.m. For pay orders, the cut off time for Premium Service-Banking customers has been extended to 3:30 p.m.

Foreign Exchange & Money Market Information

­The Bank will arrange to provide information on Foreign Exchange and Money Market rates on a daily basis by fax. Our Daily Treasury News provides information on Foreign Exchange rates, key stock, bond, and interest rate indices, highlights from international financial markets and information on technical chart points.

In addition, the Bank will provide with a clear and concise market commentary, in the form of a Weekly Treasury Newsletter, which covers the major financial events of the week and provides information on movements in major currencies, stock indices, commodities and USD Money Market rates.

Payments Plus

What is Payments Plus?

Payments Plus is a user friendly software which is offered to corporate customers of Standard Chartered Bank to facilitate the payments that they wish to make through its electronic platform, e-Banking.

What Payments Plus essentially does is create a bridge between the customer’s own accounts payable system and Standard Chartered’s e-Banking. Typically the customer has to maintain a database from which payments are periodically made.

For customers who are already used to the convenience of sending instructions electronically through Standard Chartered’s e-Banking, typing in the required information into the e-Banking template creates an additional level of work.

This is where Payments Plus comes in. by utilizing this software the process of typing in all the requited information becomes just a single click of the mouse button. If the accounts payable system is maintained in a simple pre-determined format (typically in MS Excel file), then Payments Plus uploads the information from the file to e-Banking.

Thus sending payment instructions to Standard Chartered Bank becomes a one-step process

What Payments Plus means for you?

• Outsourcing of domestic account payables to the bank
• Integration of e-Banking with account payable systems
• Ability to process bulk transactions
• Supports internal transfers, pay orders and demand drafts drawn on other banks

Tangible benefits you get by using Payments Plus

• Increased efficiency
• Greater control
• Enhanced security
• Improved vendor relations
• Lower all-in-all cos

Trade Reports

At Standard Chartered, we understand how important it is to stay informed of your trade commitment at all times. Our innovative information service now enables you to get an up-to date and easy –to read summary of your outstandings for your Import, Export and Shipping Guarantee positions.

You get the following benefits from our Trade Reports

Monitor your outstandings at a glance

 Take control of your bills status and cash flow

 Optimally utilize your trade credit facilities

Proactively act on problems relating to unaccepted or unpaid bills

 Control over the expiry dates for import and export Letters of Credit

 Its range of Trade Reports…

Trade Reports puts you in control of your trade outstandings – and gives you all the information you need to effectively manage your company’s trade business. You can choose the level of reporting that best meets your company needs, and you can change this selection as your business grows. We offer six types of report categories

 Trade Outstandings Report summarizing all your trade finance outstandings in the report.

 Export Trade Maturity Report includes the following information:

• Export Letters of Credit Report details unexpired export letters of credit transactions
• Export Drawings/Bills Report details your outstanding export drawings/bills transactions

 Import Trade Maturity Report includes the following information:

• Import Letters of Credits Report details your outstanding import letters of credit transactions
• Trust Receipts Maturity Report details your outstanding trust receipt transactions
• Acceptances Report details your outstanding acceptances and their maturities

 Guarantee Report details your outstanding from copy document endorsement for air, sea and road, Bid Bond and Performance Bond issuance.

All reports can be delivered by fax, mail, or held for collection. They can be delivered on a daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly basis or on demand.

Web Bank

Introduction…

Web Bank can significantly enhance the bank’s service to you and will play a pivotal role in the future of your business. Our Corporate and Institutional web-site offers you comprehensive information on your accounts and a number of value-added features.

 The only thing that you need is an access to the internet and you will be able to use Web Bank from anywhere in the world. As a Web Bank customer you will be given a specific user ID and a confidential password. You can then view the following information online:

• Ø Cash Account Statement
• Ø Cash Account Balances
• Ø Cash Balance History

 You can also save these information as HTML, PDF or text format and take printout.

In addition you will be able to find a comprehensive range of information about Standard Chartered Bank, its services and world-wide network. A major advantage of Web Bank is the user can access this web-site from any location through an internet connection only.

Security…

In order to meet the rigorous industry standard of transactional security, we have adopted the operational and technology framework of Identrus Global Public Key Infrastructure. We have achieved the status of Identrus Global Certified Authority in 2001.

 Cheqwriter

What is CheqWriter?

Cheq Writer is an user-friendly software developed and owned by Standard Chartered Group, which is offered to corporate customers to facilitate the preparation, printing, and recording of Standard Chartered cheques. Cheq Writer also provides different types of MIS for a better control on your cheque payments.

The Bank will supply the cheque printing stationary as and when requested by the customer. This is a pre-printed A4-size cheque form with two sections separated by a perforation. The top part is the counter foil of the cheque that can be used as a paper-record of the transaction and can also evidence the payee’s receipt. The bottom part is the cheque that contains all regular input fields of a conventional cheque leaf. An optional “Account Payee Only” marking for crossed cheques can be printed on the cheque leaf by CheqWriter.

What are its features?

• Ø Customisation of cheque leaves with customer logos;
• Ø Data storage for a complete history of all cheque payments;
• Ø Controls against typing errors;
• Ø Robust overall security; and
• Ø Professional counterfoils, which can be used both for recording purposes as well as receipts.

 What are the hardware requirements for CheqWriter?

CheqWriter can be operated from either a single personal computer or from a network of multiple computers. Hardware requirements for installation of CheqWriter are:

• Ø 100% IBM compatible personal computer operating under MS Windows 95 and above;
• Ø 486 processor (minimum);
• Ø 16 MB RAM;
• Ø 1.44 MB 3.5” Disk Drive
• Ø Hard Disk drive with 25MB free space.

 How can you benefit from CheqWriter?

CheqWriter

• Ø allows you to customise your cheques with company details, logo and counterfoil;
• Ø saves time by automating the cheque preparation;
• Ø maintains a history of all cheque payments and can provide a wide range of information extraction capabilities through various reports;
• Ø has the ability to interface with other applications;
• Ø provides full audit trail of all transactions.

 Security…

Access to CheqWriter can be parameterized through user IDs and passwords. Users can also be assigned with different access levels to avoid unauthorized use of CheqWriter.

Billspay

We are pleased to introduce Billspay, the most convenient way to settle your monthly utility bills. Billspay will not only provide convenience but also allow flexibility to pay your bills as and when you choose. Once you sign up for our services you will no longer have to go out of your way to pay bills for electricity, mobile phones, internet, etc., every month.  Billspay provides one-stop payment solution where we will debit your account to pay your bills.

 Choose Auto Billspay to outsource your utility payments to the bank. The bank will collect your bills directly from the billing company and debit your account to pay them according to their billing cycle. All you have to do is sign up once and completely forget about your bills… we will take care of them.

 And if you’re not comfortable with paying in a date deterSmined by the billing company, we have Billspay Regular for you. You can send your bills to our bank at any day of the month by a messenger and we will pay off your bills and stamp “PAID” on your receipts.

 Or simply choose Billspay Express to enjoy the benefits of both the services mentioned above. You decide when to pay and we’ll send in our people to collect your bills from your premise(s). We will pay off these bills, stamp “PAID” and send them back to your office.

 To sign up for Auto Billspay you have to give us detailed billing information. Information like meter number (for payment of electricity bills), billing company’s name, billing date (for payment of mobile phone bills), customer’s name and signature should be given at the time of sign up. You should also provide a copy of the relevant bill statement(s).

 To enjoy Billspay Regular or Billspay Express all you need to do is accept our banking service proposal customized towards your requirement.