After 160 Years, Standard Bank Goes 99% Digital During Pandemic

Standard Bank Group Ltd. said 99% of its transaction volumes in South Africa are now cashless, a trend that has helped the continent’s largest lender by assets to cut costs.

“It’s extraordinary,” Standard Bank’s Chief Executive Sim Tshabalala said in an interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Matthew Winkler at the Africa Business Media Innovators Conversation. “What we’ve seen is an incredible shift to electronic ways of doing things.”

Standard Bank, which dates back to 1862, is seeking to add at least 10 million customers by 2025, and sees technology firms such as Amazon.com Inc., Alibaba Group Holding ...