Standard Chartered Plc says it is closing about half of its Nigerian branches in a pivot to digital banking. The decision was reached following the finance industry coming under pressure from mobile money providers. The London-listed lender’s local unit has already started to shut some offices in December and will eventually operate only 13 branches in the country. According to a document seen by Bloomberg News, Standard Chartered is instead strengthening mobile banking and recruiting agents to reach new customers and handle cash deposits and withdrawals across Africa’s biggest economy, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorised to speak publicly. A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment and said it would address future plans at the “appropriate time.” The shift by StanChart mirrors efforts by Nigerian lenders to embrace digital banking amid a fintech boom that’s put much of Africa at the cutting edge of the revolution in mobile money. But instead of opening more physical branches, banks including Access Bank Plc and First Bank of Nigeria are also curbing costs by building networks of authorized agents, or people within communities to sell their products and services. Standard Chartered has focused on corporate …