SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm, has launched a new digital banking platform called audax Financial Technology (audax).
The end-to-end digital banking solution comes with modularised capabilities designed to handle large volumes of customer data at one time. Built to complement incumbent banks’ core systems, audax’s technology will target banks and financial institutions looking to accelerate their digital transformation, deliver new business models, serve new customer segments and derive new revenue streams.
The launch follows audax’s commercialisation of its BaaS offerings for Standard Chartered with Bukalapak, an all-commerce platform in Indonesia. Powered by the digital banking platform, Standard Chartered was said to be the first global bank to offer Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) in Asia
Alex Manson, who leads SC Ventures said: “The successful partnership between Standard Chartered and Bukalapak to launch BukaTabungan is an example of how audax has provided a truly paperless, digital banking access, serving Bukalapak’s ecosystem of more than 150 million users and 20 million business owners. Going forward, audax can achieve the same for any other financial institution looking to partner with any platform.”
By 2030, the business-to-business to any-end-user (B2B2X) market is expected to reach USD440 billion in annual revenues, driven by advancements in the financial infrastructure, digital banking and embedded finance space. Standard Chartered said it expects audax to play a part in this growth market by helping banks in two distinct use cases: Digital Banking and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS).
Headquartered in Singapore, Kelvin Tan, the former Managing Director and Global Head of SC nexus, will lead audax as its CEO while the company will continue to serve Standard Chartered in a commercial capacity by powering its BaaS proposition, SC nexus, for current and future partnerships.
Tan said: “We are excited to push the frontiers of what is considered possible. audax has showcased the potential of BaaS and how it has scaled the digital business for Standard Chartered, enabling them to acquire new-to-bank customers at a fraction of traditional customer acquisition costs. We are now ready to scale it for other banks and financial institutions globally, helping everyone create better value for their business without risking their existing estate.”
