Standard Chartered has announced the launch of its ‘Online Approval in Principle’ service in the UAE, a first-of-its-kind digital credit card and personal loan application approval solution in the country.

The service will enable customers to get an instant decision on their products and services applications, said the lender in its statement.  

Standard Chartered is the first bank in the Middle East to offer the unique ‘Online AiP’ service to its customers. The service will cut down turnaround time for product and service applications to a few minutes from 24-48 hours, it stated.

The service is a significant step in the bank’s digitization vision, which aims to grow its digital banking channels by 30 per cent over the next 12 to 18 months in the UAE, it added.

Khalid El Gibaly, the head of Consumer Banking, UAE and Middle East, said: "Earlier this year, we launched our digitisation vision which aims to extend our customer’s digital lifestyle into banking and provides them with a superior digital banking experience."

"The Online Approval in Principle service is a new benchmark in customer service and digital banking in the UAE and highlights our continuous efforts to bring world-class banking services to our customers in the country," he stated.

The new digital solution targets potential credit card and personal loan customers across all demographics with minimum salaries of Dh5000 ($1361). The service is designed to cater to customer’s basic requirements including a shorter application form and an instant decision on the application, said El Gibaly.  

"If the application is approved, the customer is required to proceed with the online application and if it is in referral status, he or she will get a call back on steps required to proceed," he added.-TradeArabia News Service