Standard Bank

Universal bank · Johannesburg, South Africa

Standard Bank Group is Africa's largest bank by assets, with total assets of about R3.6 trillion (USD 217 billion at 16.569 rand per dollar) at 31 December 2025 and headline earnings of R49.2 billion. It banks in 21 sub-Saharan African countries, runs global centres in the UK, US, China and UAE, and offshore banks in Jersey and the Isle of Man. ICBC bought about 20% of the group in 2007 for USD 5.5 billion and owns 60% of the former London markets business ICBC Standard Bank. Small businesses in South Africa get the MyMoBiz account at R15 a month, while corporates use TradeOnline for trade finance. The Prudential Authority fined the South African bank R13 million in January 2025 for FIC Act failures.

Legal name: Standard Bank Group Limited
Regulated by: South African Reserve Bank Prudential Authority, FSCA (South Africa), Isle of Man Financial Services Authority (Standard Bank Isle of Man), Jersey Financial Services Commission (Standard Bank Jersey)
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 1862
Website: www.standardbank.com

Scores, 0 to 10

9.0Latin America, Africa & South Asia

Largest bank in Africa with banking licences in 21 sub-Saharan countries, R3.6 trillion in assets and R15 a month SME accounts. · source

8.0Trade, manufacturing & import-export

Best Trade Finance Bank in Africa 2026 per Global Finance, with structured trade finance and TradeOnline across 21 African countries. · source

7.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

FX through the FICC desk across 21 African currencies and offshore accounts in GBP, USD, EUR and AUD, with margins unpublished. Cash management named best in Angola, Botswana and Nigeria by Global Finance 2026, with liquidity and payment solutions across 21 countries. · source

7.0Customer satisfaction

The Standard Bank app holds 4.6 stars from 470,000 Google Play reviews with over 10 million downloads. · source

7.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

Business credit card at R50 a month and corporate charge, procurement, travel and forex cards at R600 a year on Mastercard or Visa with web-based expense tools; virtual cards are offered in the personal app. · source

6.0Lowest fees

MyMoBiz costs R15 a month with free card purchases and inter-account transfers on a pay as you transact basis. · source

6.0Financial strength & stability

CET1 13.8% and ROE 19.3% in FY2025, but group ratings are Ba2 (Moody's) and BB (Fitch) under the South African sovereign ceiling. · source

6.0On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

An August 2026 guide reports rand EFT and instant EFT from Standard Bank to licensed exchanges work with no crypto cap, only fraud confirmation on large first payments, and the bank banks the reserves of the Luno-listed ZARU stablecoin; this is personal-account evidence, and nothing is published for business accounts. · source

5.5Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

SnapScan and SimplyBLU Pocket card acceptance serve South African merchants, with MarketLink savings attached to MyMoBiz. Foreign currency accounts in EUR, USD, GBP and other majors and offshore multi-currency accounts in 15 currencies through Isle of Man, Jersey and Mauritius, but no API or Stripe integration for software firms. · source

5.5Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

Businesses registered outside South Africa qualify for a foreign currency account, and a Non-Resident Business Account application can be signed abroad with documents certified by a bank in an FATF country. · source

5.5Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

The same 2026 guide says large incoming payments from exchanges may trigger source-of-funds checks answered with exchange statements, and the bank defended a client's bitcoin-linked funds against SARB forfeiture in the High Court in 2025; no written business process for crypto proceeds is published. · source

5.0Fast digital onboarding

MyMoBiz targets South African businesses with turnover up to R5 million and opens through the bank's digital channels with local FICA documents. · source

4.5United Kingdom

Standard Bank runs a London global centre for corporates plus Jersey and Isle of Man offshore banks with GBP, USD, EUR and AUD accounts, not a UK SME business account. · source

4.5Best interest on business balances

MyMoBiz includes a free MarketLink savings account for surplus cash, but the rate is not published on the product page. · source

4.5Fintech companies that need a partner bank

SnapScan sits inside the group and CIB offers payments solutions, but no safeguarding or sponsor bank programme is published. · source

4.5Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

Standard Bank holds the rand reserves of the ZARU stablecoin in a segregated account since its February 2026 launch and joined the 21-bank USD stablecoin venture in September 2026 (launch aimed at 2027), but it does not issue, and business clients cannot hold or pay out stablecoins at the bank today. · source

4.0Startups & VC-backed companies

MyMoBiz at R15 a month suits new South African businesses, but no venture debt or founder unit exists. · source

3.5Middle East & Gulf

A Dubai global centre covers Middle East-Africa corporate flows; no GCC retail or SME banking licence is published. · source

3.5High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

No prohibited-industries list for business accounts is published on the business banking pages; scored conservatively. · source

3.0United States

A New York global centre serves corporate and institutional clients only, with no US business accounts. · source

3.0Asia-Pacific (SG, HK, AU, JP, KR)

A Beijing global centre backs China-Africa trade under ICBC's 20% shareholding; no APAC hub banking licence is held. · source

3.0Crypto-friendly bank

Standard Bank held funds of a client that sent 4,405 bitcoin offshore, then fought SARB's forfeiture in court; no crypto onboarding policy is published. · source

2.5Crypto wallet and custody for a business

Standard Bank's March 2026 capital markets day deck lists stablecoin custody launched in 2025 and names digital asset custody as a focus area, but no public product page lets a company open a crypto wallet, so evidence is thin and nothing is on sale that we could verify. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

The same 2026 deck describes merchant acquiring (SimplyBlu) and immediate payments with no crypto or stablecoin acceptance for merchants, and no such product appears in press, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Bitcoin

Standard Bank offers no bitcoin buying or custody in its apps, and its Webtrader exchange traded products page lists no crypto ETPs, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Ethereum

No ether buying, custody or ETPs at Standard Bank; its Webtrader exchange traded products page lists none, checked September 2026. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.