Stanchart to serve coffee in banking hall

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | An expresso in the banking hall! Standard Chartered bank has partnered with Endiro Coffee to serve its customers at the main branch with a cup of coffee whenever they go to transact business.

The arrangement named “coffee banking” will be a first for a bank in Uganda to have a coffee shop in its hall but also shows the length banks are going to attract an extra person in their banking hall.

Outside Uganda, some banks like USA’s Capital One have a string of cafés, where people regardless of their bank affiliation can grab an expresso, sit on the couch and be taken through money issues by professionals for free.

Grolia Katusiime, the Managing Director Endiro Coffee, said they would look for more partnerships to reach as many people as they can. Consuming local coffee, she said, means they can buy more from local farmers creating a spillover effect.

Moses Rutahigwa, the Manager Retail Banking Standard Chartered bank, said they expect the product to change the ambiance in that hall that if a customer is coming for advisory services, pick a cup of coffee.

Being the premium branch, the Expresso will not come for free; it will be sold to customer at between Shillings 5,000 and Shillings 10,000.

Rutahigwa said ordinarily the customer would need to finish banking and then move to a coffee shop but to have it at the bank can save them time and cost.