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Best Bank: Standard Chartered |
In the battle of the Standards, Standard Chartered Bank came out on top of Standard Bank. When Standard Bank acquired 90% of Uganda Commercial Bank in February 2002 it became one of the country’s biggest banks, gaining 67 branches.
Last summer, Standard Bank’s Ugandan subsidiary opened two new branches: one on the border with Tanzania, and one in an area of the country still recovering from 20 years of military insurgency. It also helped introduce a mobile-phone money-transfer system.
However, the subsidiary’s NPLs increased almost 60%, while those at Standard Chartered fell. Standard Chartered’s profit after tax increased by more than two-thirds, while profit at Standard Bank’s subsidiary fell slightly. Standard Chartered opened three new branches and also introduced technologically advanced retail banking.