Global Financial Services Leader Standard Chartered Bank Reduces Finance Operations Queries 80% with ServiceNow Automation
Standard Chartered Bank, a global financial services leader with 80,000 employees across 53 markets, reduced finance operations queries by 80% by automating core processes with ServiceNow IT Service Management Professional and App Engine.
Value Results Summary
Standard Chartered Bank operates more than 600 branches across 53 markets with over 80,000 employees managing complex finance operations. The bank's Global Finance Operations team—consisting of approximately 1,600 members—handles critical processes including group planning and analysis, stress testing, accounting and reporting, liquidity and capital management, and product control. Prior to modernization, the team struggled with manual processes spanning multiple spreadsheets and emails, making it difficult to track request statuses, manage tens of thousands of monthly inquiries, and ensure timely compliance with regulatory, statutory, and audit requirements. Standard Chartered Bank implemented ServiceNow IT Service Management Professional (ITSM Pro) and ServiceNow App Engine to automate workflows, create custom applications, and improve visibility across finance operations.
The implementation delivered immediate operational improvements across multiple finance processes. A self-service portal with an integrated knowledge base containing thousands of articles reduced incoming queries by up to 80%, freeing staff to focus on higher-value work. The bank now manages over 50,000 requests per quarter through automated workflows, dashboards, and request modules that eliminate manual tracking and duplication. Automated routing logic ensures inbound emails from vendors and regulators are directed to the correct person for rapid resolution, while configurable workflows provide clear accountability and task ownership. Across all finance operations, the bank has saved over 16,800 annual hours in manual effort, with additional benefits including simplified stress-testing processes, improved governance controls, and enhanced transparency for attestations, recertifications, approvals, reviews, and escalations.
The transformation required careful change management, with the implementation team guiding departments through prototypes and proofs of concept. As teams observed tangible results, adoption accelerated, with departments independently proposing new workflow automations. Critical path playbooks now highlight deadlines and service level agreement (SLA) risks, enabling managers to balance workloads and minimize human intervention through automated reminders, escalations, and status tracking. The success has positioned Standard Chartered Bank to expand automation further across finance operations, with senior management confident in additional investments in ServiceNow's low-code and no-code capabilities to drive continued operational efficiency.
