Standard Chartered takes on new team head in Singapore hiring drive
Standard Chartered has made another senior hire in Singapore as part of its digital-banking expansion. Burak Ceviz joined Stan Chart earlier this month from Turkey’s Odeabank as head of digital servicing, according to his public profile.
Ceviz’s moves comes as Stan Chart spent US$400m on its digital banking operations in 2017 and continues to invest in the field.
He is not the only senior person to come on board during this digital spending spree. Earlier this year, Bob Fabrizi joined from DBS as Stan Chart’s Singapore-based head of production support services for private banking, wealth management and retail. And as we reported in November, Stan Chart hired Paul Beresford, also from DBS, as global head of retail products technology channels, statements and operations.
Other notable recruits in Singapore over the past year include George Harrak, head of technology programmes and solutions for private banking and wealth, and Pedro Sousa Cardoso, global head of digital commerce.
Recent digital initiatives at Stan Chart include the launch of eXellerator innovation labs in Singapore and Hong Kong, and the establishment of SC Ventures, a new business unit that invests in fintech and other start-up firms.
Ceviz spent about six years at Odeabank in Istanbul, latterly as a senior manager, “responsible for all channel innovation, marketing, sales, product/channel management, team/vendor management for internet banking, mobile banking, SMS and intranet channels”, according to his profile. Prior to that, he did a six-year stint at Garanti Bank, another Turkish firm, primarily in digital banking.
His relocation to Asia reflects the difficulties that banks in Singapore and Hong Kong are now grappling with as they try to boost their digital and technology ranks in the face of local talent shortages. Senior in-house recruiters from global banks in Asia told an eFinancialCareers roundtable earlier this month that they regularly take on overseas candidates when hiring in technology.
As we’ve reported over the past 12 months, digital banking recruitment is a particularly active sector within the Singapore job market. Stan Chart and Citi are the most aggressive recruiters among foreign firms, but DBS, OCBC and UOB are also hiring in large numbers.
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