StanChart, A*STAR in $15m AI partnership to speed up customer checks

SINGAPORE – Searching multiple databases to check if clients are eligible for, say, a loan will soon be a simple prompt away for Standard Chartered relationship managers.

They will be able to instruct an artificial intelligence chatbot with: “Show me this client’s payment volumes over the last few months, broken down by currency and payment network.”

The relationship managers currently need to manually access multiple databases to extract the information to assess if clients could apply for a mortgage or take up a personal loan.

But a three-year partnership between StanChart and Singapore’s A*STAR to accelerate AI applications in the financial sector hopes to smoothen the process.

Under the partnership, the bank and A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) will commit a total of $15 million towards the establishment of an AI for Banking Innovation Lab, comprising technology scientists and researchers from the two organisations.

This will allow the bank to tap A*STAR IHPC’s pool of AI expertise in high-performance and applied AI research, backed by a team of research scientists. The institute focuses its research on computer science, AI, simulation and modelling.

It will also allow A*STAR IHPC researchers to work closely on site with the bank’s internal data and AI teams on ongoing projects, helping to develop applied, client-centric AI applications.

Mr Patrick Lee, StanChart’s chief executive for Singapore, ASEAN and South Asia, said digital banking has changed what clients expect and emphasised the need to invest in safe and responsible AI applications to link research and real-world applications more closely.

The project developing natural-language interfaces in banking systems will help to significantly speed up analysis and improve productivity, said Mr Alvaro Garrido, chief operating officer for technology and operations at StanChart.

Such capabilities will help improve the relationship manager’s overall insight into the client’s portfolio, he added.

“The collaboration is designed to accelerate application of AI research into practical, client-centric prototypes, rather than operating as a purely academic or off-site research programme,” said Mr Garrido, who is also the chief information security and data officer at StanChart.

Other financial institutions have also started using AI to streamline their processes, such as automating call centre functions and speeding up loan approvals.

For example, the Bank of Singapore launched an AI tool in October 2025 to generate “source-of-wealth” reports, which detail a person’s or entity’s total assets and their origins, and gives clarity on the legitimacy of the customers’ assets.

The tool shortens the time it takes to generate such reports from 10 days to as little as an hour, allowing the bank’s relationship managers to spend more time engaging clients to better understand their financial needs and review their portfolio.

Besides natural language processing, other themes the partnership between A*STAR and StanChart will explore include portfolio optimisation and fraud detection.

Portfolio optimisation focuses on using advanced AI and machine learning to improve how the bank assesses, balances and manages risk and returns across corporate loans, said Mr Garrido.

With the partnership, the bank will be able to build forecasting and optimisation models that help the bank better understand its exposure across industries, geographies and market conditions, he added.

To improve fraud detection, Mr Garrido said that AI and machine learning can be further strengthened. This will help the bank spot and prevent financial fraud more effectively, including detecting business e-mail compromise, account takeovers and other types of authorised fraud by analysing past and cross-border payment patterns.