The Silicon Review ^Asia

Microsoft and Standard Chartered Bank recently made an announcement that both the companies have signed a three-year strategic deal to drive digital transformation for the bank through the cloud-first strategy. This partnership is a significant milestone in the bank's vision for open banking, next-gen payments, BaaS, and virtual banking a reality. The companies are looking forward to leverage Azure to collaborate and innovate together in real-time payments and open banking to help the bank unravel exciting experiences for the clients. Multicloud approach will be adopted by Standard Chartered as a part of its digital transformation effort. All the core banking services are expected to be cloud-based by 2025, and it will all be subject to regulatory approvals.

All the major enhancements and new software developments from the bank will also adopt a cloud-first principle. Technology is continuing to reshape the banking sector; Standard Chartered has identified that only a cloud-first strategy can help achieve the ambition of making seamless virtual banking a reality. Standard Chartered's Group Chief Information Officer Michael Gorriz stated that for the bank's strategy to meet the client's current demands, the cloud could serve as a cornerstone. He furthermore added that Cloud providers are investing a lot in automation of infrastructure and reliability