Standard Chartered Bank announced its partnership with Sociolla through nexus, its “Banking as a Service” solution.
The partnership will enable Sociolla to offer financial products, like savings accounts, loans and credit cards that are powered by nexus in late 2021, subject to regulatory approvals.
Andrew Chia, Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Indonesia, said: “We are excited to announce our partnership with Sociolla, Indonesia’s leading beauty and personal care e-commerce platform. This second partnership with an e-commerce platform reaffirms Standard Chartered Bank’s commitment to grow our footprint locally. We believe the future of banking is digital, and nexus is poised to leverage strategic partnerships that enable greater financial access for Indonesians.”
This partnership is in line with Sociolla’s ambition to transform the beauty industry through technology. Co-Founder and President Director of Social Bella (parent company of Sociolla), Christopher Madiam said: “We are truly excited in being the first beauty-tech company that is collaborating with Standard Chartered Bank to provide beauty enthusiasts with this innovative banking solution. At Sociolla, we are proud of our tech-led capabilities in providing customers with a holistic and unique beauty experience that truly meets our customers’ needs. The banking service is an important added value to continuously complement our integrated beauty ecosystem, especially now that we have been noticing a growing demand from our customers for trusted digital payment.”
Furthermore, digital payment has a huge role in promoting Indonesia’s digital economy. With the huge volume of beauty and personal care products being bought online, it is imperative that the industry caters to adapt with the customers’ rising adoption of digital payment methods. Christopher adds: “As e-commerce continues to develop a bigger presence among Indonesian beauty enthusiasts, we hope to expand our customer base through a more convenient and comfortable online purchasing experience within our ecosystem.”
Through this “Banking as a Service” solution, digital platforms and ecosystems like e-commerce, social media or ride hailing companies, will be able to offer loans, credit cards and savings accounts co-created with the bank to their customers under their own brand name. The bank intends to further roll out the service to markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East with the right regulatory frameworks and established digital platforms.
Most recently, the Bank announced the official launch of Mox, its new virtual bank created in partnership with PCCW, HKT and Trip.com, to the general public in Hong Kong. It also set up a joint venture with Assembly Payments this February to develop and deliver next generation payment solutions and has also built a digital open platform, Solv, to help Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India and other markets grow by providing access to financial and business services.
