Anticipating client needs, redesigning processes end-to-end and leveraging AI responsibly are critical for banks looking to deliver a solid digitally enabled banking experience to their clients, said Guillermo Veiga, Group Chief Information Officer at Standard Chartered, at the Digital CX Summit 2026 held in Singapore on 23 April .
Speaking at the opening fireside chat, Veiga said technology has redefined what is exceptional customer experience for cross-border corporate and institutional clients. Five years ago, the focus was on speed and accuracy. Today, anticipating client needs is key, as is simplifying their banking experience across jurisdictions, channels and products.
As a global bank operating across 54 markets spanning Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Standard Chartered is one of the frontrunners in providing top-notch digital CX. At the industry event organised by The Digital Banker, Veiga said having a disciplined, platform-led and API-first architecture allows the bank to standardise the core building blocks of banking, while keeping services flexible and scalable.
He added that through APIs, capabilities like payments, liquidity management or trade services can be embedded directly in client workflows – leading to less friction, more transparency and a consistent experience across markets.
Banks should also focus on redesigning processes end-to-end, with a focus on features and applications that might be needed in the future, rather than digitising them in isolation.
“When we redesign processes end-to-end – whether that’s onboarding, payments or trade flows – we can remove manual steps, automate decision-making, improve speed, transparency and predictability for clients,” reckons Veiga.
This is crucial for a firm like Standard Chartered, whose clients include individuals, entrepreneurs and families, large corporations, financial institutions, fintechs, governments and development organisations, and breakthrough organisations under its ventures business. That is why its strategy is built around navigating change and supporting clients as their needs evolve, to remain relevant and trusted over the long term.
Marie Bush, Director at Alvarez and Marsal asked questions from the audience to Guillermo Veiga, Group Chief Information Officer at Standard Chartered, during the fireside chat of The Digital CX Summit 2026Trust in focus
The importance of customer trust around digital banking was a consistent theme at the summit, which brought together leaders from across retail banking, transaction banking, SME banking, wealth and private banking, insurance, digital challengers, and fintech innovators.
Veiga said during the fireside chat that trust is the “foundation of customer experience”.
To that end, Standard Chartered has built cybersecurity and operational resilience into the design of its platforms, and has teams that continuously monitor the global threat landscape. This allows it to focus on innovation, while ensuring clients are confident about the bank’s security controls and know their data and transactions are safe, added Veiga.
When it comes to artificial intelligence, the CIO said AI brings threats and opportunities, so having the right governance model and frameworks from the outset to use AI responsibly will be a key differentiator for banks. A good data strategy will also be essential.
Standard Chartered is already deploying AI to improve customer experience at call centres, and on the wealth front, its AI-powered FX Insights tool gives clients real-time, actionable market intelligence in a simple, intuitive format.
“Today, we have a human in the loop and believe AI is more about augmentation than replacing people,” said Veiga.
AI supercharges CX
On 21 April, Standard Chartered and Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) announced a three-year partnership to accelerate AI research and innovation across the financial industry.
The bank and A*STAR’s Institute of High Performance Computing will jointly commit SGD15 million (USD11.1) to set up an AI for Banking Innovation Lab, comprising technology scientists and researchers from the two organisations, which will explore topics like portfolio optimisation, fraud detection and natural language processing, according to a press release.
Veiga said that digital-first banking models have reshaped client expectations across all segments, underscoring the need to enable seamless connectivity with growth opportunities, while equipping our workforce with future-ready skills. He added that industry partnerships like these will help create new business models running on AI – “fundamentally an innovative way of delivering seamless, client-centric financial services”.
“Ultimately, the banks that succeed in the digital CX journey will be those that use technology not just to move faster, but to understand clients better, connect markets more effectively, and build stronger relationships,” he added. “That’s exactly what we’re focused on at Standard Chartered.”
