Those who bank with Standard Chartered may have noticed how the bank seems to be scaling down its operations. With banks going through a downturn brought about by the current economic crisis there has been speculation by some people that StanChart is leaving Zimbabwe, having had enough of the never-ending crisis.

That is not true according to StanChart Zimbabwe’s CEO who echoed StaChart’s own motto and tagline. It turns out all these scaling down is part of StanChart’s cost-cutting measures as it invests more in digital technology. It doesn’t seem restricted to Zimbabwe either.

We are not going anywhere, we are here for good. As Standard Chartered Bank, we have been in Zimbabwe for over a century and that makes us part of the Zimbabwean story and will make efforts to continue contributing to this economy. We now know what works and what doesn’t
We can only come up with more products and services that enhance convenience and efficiency for our customers as well as play an advisory role that helps them grow, so we are not exiting the Zimbabwe market. This is a programme being implemented across the region (Africa and Middle East)
Standard Chartered CEO Mr Ralph Watunga

Standard Chartered now has only 3 branches left countrywide. One branch in Bulawayo, and two in Harare including the headquarters at Africa Unity Square.