Standard Bank Group

Standard Bank Group Limited is a public company in the banking industry, founded on 15 October 1862 and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the largest African bank by assets, operating in 20 African countries and 5 global financial centres. The group is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (SBK) and the Namibian Stock Exchange (SNB).

As a holding company, Standard Bank provides a wide range of financial services, including personal and private banking, business and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, as well as insurance and asset management. Its offerings span transactional banking, saving, borrowing, lending, investment, insurance, risk management, wealth management, and advisory services. Its corporate and investment banking segment serves governments, parastatals, larger corporates, financial institutions, and international counterparties.

For 2024, the group reported net income of R181 billion, assets under management of R1.5 trillion, total assets of R3.26 trillion, and total equity of R292 billion. For the period ended 31 December 2025, it had over 19.6 million clients, employed over 50,000 people, and operated over 1,200 branches/points of representation and over 5,500 ATMs across the African continent, with headline earnings of R49.2 billion (USD 2.7 billion) and total assets of R3.6 trillion (USD 218 billion). Key people include Chairperson Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita and CEO Sim Tshabalala.

Given its vast scale, large client base, and extensive multi-country footprint across sub-Saharan Africa, innovation in banking and financial services is highly relevant to Standard Bank's ability to serve diverse markets efficiently. The group was recognised among Forbes' World's Best Employers for 2025 (the highest-ranked organisation from Africa) and named in TIME Magazine's World's Best Companies and Newsweek's World's Most Trustworthy Companies for 2025.