UK bank Standard Chartered opens IT service centre in Bangalore

Standard Chartered Bank wants to attract the best tech talent to its global business hub in Bangalore to harness the latest technology, such as robotics, in providing global business services to its operations in 68 countries.

The bank’s 43,000m² global business services operation in India’s Silicon Valley is part of the company’s digital strategy, announced in 2015, which involves $3bn investment in technology and systems.

Multinational businesses are attracted to cities like Bangalore because of their deep talent pool, modern infrastructures, and thriving communities of global businesses.

Standard Chartered already has other global business services operations in China, India and Malaysia which employ 19,000 people. It plans to eventually have 30% of its total global business services staff based in Bangalore.

The bank wants the centre to drive its digital banking offerings using Agile software development methodology and DevOps practices.

Michael Gorriz, group CIO at Standard Chartered, said technology is at the centre of the bank’s growth strategy. “Our investment in Bangalore is an important strategic step to enable access to a pool of highly skilled talent who can support our ambitions to be a digital bank with a human touch,” he said.

“We are here to attract the best minds in India’s Silicon Valley to join us in redefining banking for the world. This will be a key location for several of our global centres of excellence, providing highly sophisticated and complex support as well as advisory capabilities to our businesses.”

Cities such as Bangalore offer access to highly skilled and experienced IT professionals and a variety of business skills.

Technology giants, in particular, have vast operations in India. Google’s largest campus outside the US is in the Indian city of Hyderabad, which can accommodate 6,500 employees. Apple also has an operation there, with a 250,000ft² technology development centre. And about 130,000 of Accenture’s 400,000-strong global workforce is based in India.

Outside IT, industrial giant GE recently added a digital hub to its global network by opening a centre in Bangalore, which will house 2,500 tech professionals. The city is becoming a hub for financial services, with a large talent pool experienced in finance and banking, as well as IT. ANZ, Danske Bank, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley all have a major presence in Bangalore.

Peter Schumacher, CEO at business consultancy the Value Leadership Group, said Standard Chartered has been a pioneer in setting up global delivery centres. “Starting in 2001, it was one of the first banks to develop an integrated network of shared services centres in Asia,” he said. “It is committed to in-house IT development and operations, and outsources very little to service providers.”

Schumacher added: “A growing number of foreign companies are expanding their captive centres in India to create and capture greater benefits by moving the work performed there up the value curve and developing more innovation.”

They are building deep domain capabilities, implementing globally integrated processes, and developing globally collaborative work environments, he said. “The investments being made by many captives underscore the fact that the global services paradigm is shifting from cost to skills, productivity and innovation.”