Standard Chartered Bank emerges victorious at Hong Kong Business Technology Excellence Awards 2025

It was honoured for its DIY digital journey for short-term endowment insurance products and its cloud-based Online Banca System platform.

Financial services company Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) landed two major accolades at the distinguished Hong Kong Business Technology Excellence Awards 2025 for its first-of-its-kind DIY digital journey for a short-term endowment insurance product within its mobile banking app, as well as its success in migrating its Hong Kong bancassurance business to the cloud-based Online Banca System (OBS).

The DIY Short-Term Endowment Journey on SCB’s mobile app, which earned the firm the Fintech - Banking category win, enables customers to purchase a short-term endowment product in just four clicks, with no paperwork, no advisor involvement, and real-time confirmation. Its backend architecture is also designed for reuse, allowing the bank to easily plug in future similar products in other markets, demonstrating the global adaptability of the platform.

SCB has created a digital-first insurance product class directly competing with time deposits, attracting digitally savvy and mass affluent customers. It has also integrated eKYC, pre-filled details, real-time underwriting, and instant confirmation.

Meanwhile, the bank’s OBS platform, which won the Cloud - Banking category, powers the entire insurance lifecycle — from lead generation and product recommendation to policy administration and post-sale service.

SCB has integrated operations tools, pre-trade checks, regulatory compliance workflows, and policy servicing directly into OBS. The transformation has enabled straight-through journeys for both self-directed and assisted sales, whilst giving operations teams new digital tools to manage client requests efficiently.

The migration has also included key security enhancements, wherein ICS controls have been embedded, and all data has been aligned with retention and purging policies under the group standards. Its local Hong Kong launch also included virtual onboarding upgrades.

OBS has successfully decommissioned the legacy Global Banca Platform and has achieved full-stack integration across sales, servicing, and operations through the migration of its entire bancassurance stack. It has also empowered the frontline with integrated portfolio review and lead tools, increasing annual insurance reviews and improving myInsure adoption by the frontline.

“This transformation has been recognised internally and externally, paving the way for future capabilities like claims digitisation, health insurance orchestration, and ecosystem integration,” the bank said.

Hong Kong Business Technology Excellence Awards honours outstanding companies and solutions that have made exceptional contributions in pursuit of technological innovation within Hong Kong’s dynamic tech landscape.

The Hong Kong Business Technology Excellence Awards is presented by Hong Kong Business Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2026 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding contributions in pursuit of technological innovation, please contact Julie Anne Nuñez-Difuntorum at [email protected].