The Sunday Times financial section has made Standard Chartered Bank its top tip for share buying this year."Global banks are reeling, but there will be winners, and this conservatively run bank-heavily tied into Asia, Africa and the middle East will be one of them"
I am not one for the shares market preferring to invest any left over cash in property but I certainly feel my money is safe at Fajara SCB. It makes you feel good that your friendly, local bank in Banjul, Serrekunda, Kairaba Avenue, Senegambia and Basse can now look down on the huge over designed, overstretched and arrogant glass houses of Lehman Brothers and RBSetc.
The Standard Chartered Group website tells me the bank was formed in 1969 through a merger of two banks: The Standard Bank of British South Africa founded in 1863 and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, founded in 1853.
It has its own
Gambia site which tells us that Standard Chartered Bank is the oldest and, until 2002, the only international bank in The Gambia, and has had a presence in the country since 1894. Since its establishment, the Bank has remained committed to providing the highest quality of banking services to the Gambian people. Our understanding of the market, business environment and needs of our customers is unparalleled, and we provide a comprehensive range of banking products and services in both Consumer and wholesale banking.
In December 1998, Standard Chartered Bank Gambia launched the first 24-hour Automated Teller Machines with VISA connectivity. The setting up of ATMs in the Gambian financial market heralded the advent of the 21st century by introducing the hitherto unknown concept of 24-hour banking in The Gambia.
The Bank employs over 100 people, and has five branches in Banjul, Serrekunda, Kairaba Avenue, Senegambia and Basse.
Standard Chartered Bank Gambia provides a comprehensive range of products in both consumer and wholesale banking.
The consumer banking products include wealth management products like current, savings and foreign currency accounts as well as Linksave and Fixed Deposit Accounts. We also provide personal installment loans and overdrafts, mortgage housing finance, ATM facilities and Western Union money transfer services. For our Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, we also provide lending, cash management, and trade finance services.
Our wholesale banking products and services include Trade Finance, Cash Management, Foreign Exchange and a wide range of Corporate Finance solutions.
SCB Gambia is leading the way in the Gambian Financial services market and aims to be the right partner for its stakeholders. The bank combines deep local knowledge with global capability. We are appreciated across the network for our standard of governance and commitment to making a difference in the community.
We are a major player in the country’s forex market through our Global markets business. We are a registered Primary Dealer, which means that customers with amounts lower than 1 million dalasi can invest in treasury bills through us.
We have devised a comprehensive cash management service that serves as a one-stop shop for our customers, called Premium Service Banking. This service brings together an outstanding range of payment, collection and investment services and products.
Points of interestSCB Gambia was the first banking institution to be established in The Gambia
SCB Gambia is the only Bank in the market that has introduced and operates state of the art ATMS.
SCB Gambia provides web banking facilities for customers to monitor their accounts on a near real-time basis.
