HSBC group chief executive Noel Quinn took a dig at rival virtual banking strategies, noting that he took careful contemplation before deciding that there was no need to deliver its digital capabilities under a separate brand.
For building digital capabilities and propositions, Quinn said that he kept on open mind right from the get-go about HSBC’s digital banking strategy including the possibility of an acquisition or operating under a different brand name. Citing historical examples, he ultimately believed that the bank had sufficient capabilities internally and a brand worthy of boasting.
«In fact, my market research said that coupling that digital proposition with the brand of HSBC was the best go-to-market strategy because the brand brought the trust; it brought the confidence,» he said at the 2020 Hong Kong FinTech Week. «And the digital capability [satisfied] customer needs».
No «De Novo» Brand
According to Quinn, HSBC was open to obtaining digital capabilities externally but it wanted to ensure that it could add value through acquisition or that it couldn’t be replicated in-house.
He made comments about rejecting the idea of setting up a virtual bank that would compete alongside – the exact strategy pursued by its rival Asia-focused British lender Standard Chartered with «Mox» in Hong Kong and another planned for Singapore.
«I didn’t feel the need to go and buy [a proposition] from a fintech that was struggling. I didn’t feel the need to go set up a challenger bank within HSBC that was going to compete with the existing brand,» he said. «Just because I'm a 155-year old bank, doesn’t mean I can’t be digitally market leading».
Tech Spending
HSBC is showing serious commitment to internal development with an expected $5.8 billion set aside in 2020 for technology investment to support the bank’s transformation.
And like the industry at large, it is already seeing gains with an 80 percent adoption rate of digital channels from its commercial banking clients and a 45 percent increase in users of its retail mobile app to 1.36 million.
«You cannot operate a global bank like ours, with the complexity of the services we offer, if you do not embrace digital,» he added. «As an institution, we have to provide a better, more seamless customer experience, not just domestically but to do that globally.»
finews.asia is a media partner with HK FinTech Week.
