Singapore – Standard Chartered Bank today launched its Express Payment Guarantee Programme to deliver US Dollar and Euro cross-border payments to Asia and Africa on the same or next day. This is an extension of the existing Payment Guarantee Programme, which was launched in 2012 to speed up cross-border USD payments delivery to Asia, as it adds Euro payments and Africa as a payment destination.
The extended Express Guaranteed Payments programme significantly enhances speed, efficiency and security of payments as it effectively halves the delivery time for remitters to transmit USD and Euro-denominated payments to beneficiaries in Asia and Africa. Clients will benefit from better visibility and control over funds as well as the ability to guarantee payments to the ultimate beneficiary at the end of the payment chain. The Bank has introduced an additional automated email notification service to provide timely notice to both remitters and beneficiaries on the successful completion of each transaction.
Commenting on the extension of the programme, Madhavan Ramaswamy, Global Head of Products for Banks, said:
“As more and more trade is conducted on an open account basis, exporters increasingly demand evidence of payment before shipment of goods. The extended Express Guaranteed Payments addresses this need, and is expected to help strengthen the relationships between remitters and beneficiaries through improved speed, efficiency and security for payments.”
Anurag Bajaj, Global Head of Clearing & Liquidity Management products for Banks, added:
“With growing trade between Africa and the rest of developing world, we are seeing a strong increase in commercial payment volumes to the region. We are excited to support the growth of trade in our key markets of Asia and Africa through innovative and efficient delivery of payments.”
The Express Guaranteed Payments programme is available globally to Standard Chartered’s Financial Institution clients that make use of the Bank’s leading USD and Euro clearing capabilities. The programme has been highly successful since its inception in 2012, and currently supports the efficient processing of several thousand transactions each month.
