British multinational bank Standard Chartered has such good experience with an artificial intelligence-powered testing solution that the platform is being rolled out to a range of markets worldwide, according to a major executive at the bank.
“Having successfully tested and piloted an industry-first AI testing solution in several markets to automatically process and test different formats, this solution is being rolled out to more markets worldwide right now,” said Margaret Harwood-Jones, global head of financing & security services at the bank.
Standard Chartered rarely opens up about its use of artificial intelligence or its technology strategy, but “our bank leverages technology to bring greater efficiency through an ecosystem build on a strong data architecture and supported by fintech software solutions,” the Singapore-based industry veteran said.
“A good example is our deployment of AI to reduce operational friction,” stressed Harwood-Jones, who is responsible for the performance of the bank’s security services business globally, including the management of operations and technology.
She added that Standard Chartered is actively using emerging technologies such as AI to “benefit our clients and help shape tomorrow’s banking.”
In a video post Harwood-Jones noted that “technology and the way security services ecosystem is rapidly evolving are of key importance we continue to ensure our relevance through constant two-way exchange with the industry and our clients to best serve our needs.”
As the bank is stepping up its AI efforts and is delivering AI-driven solutions, she disclosed the bank has been working hard to solve data-management challenges.
“You get so many instruction requests that come in in a very unstructured format, so we are using AI to turn those into structured data formats that we can then test and process efficiently.”
“Having piloted an industry-first AI testing solution, it is being rolled out to more markets right now.”
– Margaret Harwood-Jones
Harwood-Jones did not disclose the name of the solution or provided any further details nor did she specify which markets she was referring to, although last year, 90% of the London-listed bank’s profits came from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Its largest shareholder is currently the government of Singapore-owned Temasek Holdings.
When contacted by QA Financial, a spokesperson for Standard Chartered at its headquarters in London declined to provide any more details.
API testing
Earlier this year, Standard Chartered launched a new platform called Open Banking Marketplace that, among other things, enables both existing and prospective clients to test and monitor application programming interfaces (APIs) and related software in a sandbox environment.
OBM, as the solution is marketed as, allows developers to directly code and plug into the bank’s open banking ecosystem to simulate experiences and run software and application tests before they go live.
One of the solution’s key features includes the creation of a project space and conduct testing with internal and external QA teams team within an upgraded simulator environment which allows them to write and test production-ready code.
“APIs play an important role in enabling corporates to build future-proof propositions that meet the needs of the evolving digital economy,” explained Mark Willis, since 2019 Standard Chartered’s global head of API & open banking ecosystems, digital channels & data analytics.
Singapore-based Willis stressed OBM features past use cases and client stories specific to each API product, offering insights on replicable solutions and likely outcomes.
“What is needed to further its adoption is a shift in focus towards a better testing experience, one that is less technically focused and offers simple, plug-and-play solutions,” he added.
“The solution helps to make informed and timely decisions when assessing and implementing the use of APIs within a business environment,” Willis concluded.
The platform builds on an earlier iteration of the bank’s aXess software testing product that was launched in 2019 and which was part of a broader initiative targeted at the developer community to boost its open banking capabilities.
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