Capitalising on its worldwide network of 8,500 offices in 86 countries, HSBC will use Premier banking as its growth driver for the retail banking segment.
HSBC Ltd regional director for personal financial services, Asia-Pacific, Louisa Cheang said there were now some trends of stabilisation in the retail banking segment.
“The last six to nine months had been very challenging. Nonetheless, deposits have increased despite low interest rates, and retail loans have grown,” she told StarBizWeek.
HSBC, “the world’s local bank”, led the mortgage market in Hong Kong with a combined 32% share on new loan drawdowns. From January to June 30, residential mortgages in Hong Kong reached US$33.8bil, 6.4% higher than the US$31.8bil recorded in the previous corresponding period.
HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd general manager of personal financial services, Lim Eng Seong, said he was rather surprised to see no drop in loan applications for mortgages in the last few months, despite the financial crunch.
“This shows that Malaysia has weathered the storm very well. The appetite for loan is still there and people have liquidity,” he said.
According to Bank Negara, the household sector saw demand for financing continue to increase mainly due to higher loans for the purchase of residential properties and the extension of personal loans.
Presently, HSBC has some three million global customers worldwide. About 800,000 are from Asia, notably in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
HSBC is looking to increase the Asian premier market share to a third of the global premier customer base by focusing on the mass affluent market.
In 2008, there were 35 million people in the mass affluent category. (People under this category have disposable assets worth some US$100,000 each.) This figure is expected to grow by 4% to 5% per annum.
Cheang said the banking sector was now merely going through a cycle in the economy.
She noted some unique characteristics of Asia which HSBC planned to tap.
First, Asia’s high savings rate, which is about 29% of gross domestic product, and second, the rising affluence of the middle-class group in Asia, which is still growing.
Cheang said regionally, HSBC Premier planned to capture market share through four main pillars – its international branding, international services, credit card reach and wealth management services.
“When you’re a HSBC customer here in Malaysia, it’s no different being in a HSBC branch in Britain or Hong Kong. Rest assured that when you enter an HSBC branch in Britain, they already understand all your requirements as if you were in Malaysia,” Lim said.
He added that with 43 Premier banking service locations around the world, HSBC offered an almost seamless experience.
“Instead of consumers just doing deposits, we would like to introduce more wealth and financial planning services,” said Cheang.
Lim said HSBC was looking to change the present retail banking culture from one of being very product-centric to a more service-oriented one.
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