Standard Chartered to launch new savings product, calls for help from fintechs
Standard Chartered is looking to roll out a new goal-based saving product for its retail banking customers in Kenya, and is asking fintechs for help as part of a challenge the bank has set on its venture network ‘Fintech Bridge’.
The bank, sixth largest in Kenya by assets, is looking for a digital savings wallet which can act as an “interactive platform” to help retail customers save money by achieving savings goals.
The bank wants fintechs to help it with gamification solutions to drive user engagement
The solution is to use “consumer behavioural techniques” which identify patterns in customers’ transaction histories.
“Standard Chartered wants to entrench a saving culture,” the bank said in the post, which was shared on 27 March by SC Ventures.
Among the list of features the bank wants fintechs to address, it mentions gamification solutions to drive user engagement, change round up on purchases, “rules” on things like salary credit so a certain amount is regularly stashed away, bill-splitting, alerts on saving goals, and spending categorisation.
The bank also wants to offer users “automated budgeting guidance” so they can understand what they need to do to reach their savings goal.
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Open until 16 June, the bank welcomes all fintechs which can connect to a core bank system, and already follow Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. Pitches will happen on 22 July, and final selection will take place on 29 July.
Traditionally, Kenya has led the way for East Africa in terms of longer-term saving schemes. In 2000, Kenyan workers had saved a cumulative $100 million for retirement, according to The EastAfrican.
But in 2001, Kenya established proper regulations for retirement savings through the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA), prompting Rwanda and Uganda to follow suit.
Fast forward 20 years, and Kenya’s working population has saved roughly $12 billion in pension money. But whilst 15 million people work in Kenya, only three million are saving for retirement, meaning 13 million are still not part of long-term saving schemes.
Whilst this doesn’t accurately reflect how many consumers are saving in the short-term, it gives a rough indication to the scope of the opportunity for Standard Chartered, and how Kenya has grown its long-term saving industry over the last two decades.
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