Standard Chartered Launches Sustainable Cash Solution

The introduction of Standard Chartered's new Sustainable Escrow and Account Bank solution marks the company's most recent breakthrough in sustainable finance. The offering, which was unveiled on July 24, 2025, demonstrates the multinational banking organization's ongoing dedication to integrating sustainability into the center of its transaction banking operations. By allowing money to be kept in accounts that reflect the bank's portfolio of sustainable loans and green projects, this novel solution is intended to help business customers integrate their cash management strategies with broader environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives.

This solution is a component of a larger collection of sustainable transaction banking solutions that Standard Chartered has been creating over the past few years. It comes after the bank launched a number of other green finance programs, including the ESG-linked cash account, which offers clients advantageous credit balance interest rates or modified fee pricing as incentives for meeting particular ESG criteria. The Sustainable Account, another offering, gives customers continued access to day-to-day liquidity while making sure that excess cash is used to support projects that are in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The package from Standard Chartered also includes its Sustainable Trade Finance solution, which was developed to help customers implement environmentally and socially conscious trade practices. Additionally, the bank provides the Sustainable Financial Institution Trade Loan, which supplies liquidity to support trade flows that promote sustainable development. The bank is attempting to integrate sustainability into previously non-green financial products through each of these offerings, guaranteeing that environmental and social factors are included in every level of business finance.

By concentrating on the safe and open custody of deposits, the recently introduced Sustainable Escrow and Account Bank solution improves this environment. In this model, Standard Chartered serves as an independent escrow agent or account bank, managing the client's assets and making sure they comply with the bank's Green and Sustainable Product Framework. The framework establishes the standards for categorizing initiatives and loans as "green" or "sustainable," making sure that client funds are connected to worthwhile and significant financial operations.

Importantly, this approach offers a safe method for clients to invest their money in initiatives that have a quantifiable impact on the real world, in addition to ensuring compliance with strong ESG criteria. Regardless of whether they promote sustainable agriculture, clean infrastructure, or renewable energy initiatives, these accounts allude to the underlying portfolio that aims to facilitate the shift to a low-carbon, socially just economy.

The new escrow and account bank service will first be accessible to customers in the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, two important markets where the need for sustainable finance has been continuously growing. As additional nations adopt sustainable finance legislation and as clients worldwide become more interested in ESG-aligned products, the bank intends to increase the service's geographic scope.

Furthermore, the introduction coincides with a period in which Standard Chartered is making notable progress toward achieving its sustainable finance revenue objectives. The bank is getting closer to its publicly stated target of $1 billion by 2025, having made $982 million from sustainable finance operations in 2024. The bank's approach of aligning long-term profitability with sustainability leadership is reinforced by this momentum.

Sandrine Jourdainne, Global Head of Deposits, Liquidity, and Escrow Solutions at Standard Chartered, emphasized the bank's two priorities—financial success and a beneficial impact on society—at the introduction of the service. Jourdainne said, "Standard Chartered is dedicated to assisting clients in meeting both financial and sustainability goals while managing risks effectively." "By offering these sustainable solutions, we're playing our part in empowering our clients to channel their funds into projects and loans that have real-world positive impact, securely and transparently."

Financial institutions like Standard Chartered are witnessing a high demand for products that enable clients to display measurable progress in ESG efforts as a result of rising regulatory oversight and investor demands for firms to demonstrate significant action in this area. By means of programs like the Sustainable Escrow and Account Bank solution, the bank is helping to change the definition of corporate cash management from one of liquidity and security to one of strategic leverage for advancing global sustainability initiatives.

As sustainable finance develops further, the challenge for banks will be to make sure that these products are transparent, verifiable, and consistent with internationally recognized sustainability frameworks. Standard Chartered's approach in this area is innovative and environmentally responsible, which is why it is considered to be forward-thinking.