Standard Chartered wants to open 20 branches in next five years

PETALING JAYA: Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd (StanChart) aspires to open 15 to 20 branches in urban and city centres over the next three to five years, subject to Bank Negara approval, said managing director and chief executive officer Julian Wynter. 

He said the bank should be permitted to open new branches in city centres as most of its branches were established outside city centres and had been operational for many years.  

“Out of 37 branches, only 10 are serving our customers in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. Over 70% of our branches are outside city centres. 

“We would like to have a greater number of branches in the urban and city centres,” he said after the official opening of its 4-storey Kota Damansara branch on Friday. 

A wider branch network may be something the bank aspired to have but growing organically would remain the theme, going forward, Wynter said. 

He said the bank was considering setting up a subsidiary for its Islamic banking operations but had yet to make a decision. “It is a viable option.  

Our Islamic assets doubled to US$2.4bil last year,” he said, adding that StanChart had yet to set a timeframe to apply for an Islamic banking licence.  

StanChart had invested US$12mil to open four new branches, including the branch in Kota Damansara, and the refurbishment of two branches.  

In conjunction with the branch launch, StanChart also announced the enhancement of its Internet banking facilities including third-party fund transfers, bills payment via credit cards, as well as through current and savings accounts.