HSBC 2003 Annual Report Download - page 24

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC
Description of Business (continued)
22
Personal Financial Services
• HSBC continued to broaden its range of
products and services across the Asia-Pacific
region, notably in investment products.
Structured deposit products were launched
across the region, and a wide range of unit trusts
were sold, driving funds under management up
year-on-year.
• HSBC’ s credit card business in the rest of Asia-
Pacific achieved significant growth in 2003,
with over 3.7 million cards in force.
• An enhanced credit card processing system was
implemented in five countries, improving
operational efficiency. The new system applies
state-of-the-art technology to risk and fraud
management allowing HSBC to better protect its
customers.
• As part of the strategic management of costs,
selected processing activities were moved into
the Group Service Centres in Bangalore, Kuala
Lumpur and Shanghai from Australia, New
Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore. In
January 2004, HSBC announced plans to open a
new Group Service Centre in Colombo, Sri
Lanka, during the year.
• HSBC continued to upgrade and enhance its
online banking offering, and the number of
personal internet banking customers increased
by 52 per cent to 378,000. The quality of its
services was recognised in Malaysia where
HSBC was named the Best Consumer Internet
Banking Site by Global Finance.
• HSBC was the first international bank in the
United Arab Emirates to offer a range of Shariah
(Islamic law) compliant personal financial
services. Two services were launched initially –
the HSBC Amanah Current Account and HSBC
Amanah Personal Finance.
• HSBC was named Asia-Pacific Bank of the Year
by The Banker, and Best Foreign Bank in
mainland China, India and Indonesia by
FinanceAsia.
Commercial Banking
• HSBC achieved impressive growth of over
49 per cent in its loan book in mainland China in
2003, with its branches in Hong Kong,Taiwan
and the mainland working closely together on
cross-border referrals and knowledge transfer.
The increase is also attributable to strong growth
in trade advances.
• A Commercial Banking intranet was developed
in 2003 that facilitates the spread of best practice
and cross-border referrals between different
members of the Group.
• In Malaysia, new business facilities approval
increased by 65 per cent.
• Delivery channels were further developed across
the region. In Malaysia, HSBC recorded a 150
per cent increase in internet, and an 80 per cent
increase in telephone banking customers, and
significantly enhanced the electronic delivery of
trade services to its customers.
• As part of its wider Islamic Banking initiatives,
HSBC won approval from the Bangladesh Bank
to launch an Islamic Banking service in the
country with specific focus on Commercial
Banking products.
• HSBC launched a Shariah banking service in
Indonesia, the first foreign bank to do so. The
Group’s Indonesian Shariah business will
initially focus on the corporate and institutional
sectors, providing structured financial
capabilities and debt capital markets advisory
services. In the medium term, HSBC intends to
extend the service to provide a broad range of
wealth management and investment products
and services.
• HSBC Bank Middle East launched a new
factoring service to assist businesses financing
their outstanding invoices. The service provides
domestic and international factoring facilities for
businesses trading on open account payment
terms.
• Trade Services continued to build on its leading
presence in the region and HSBC was named
Best Trade Finance Bank in Asia by
FinanceAsia. Document Tracker, a new service
which provides customers with a convenient
way to check the delivery status of international
documents sent through HSBC’s Trade Services
offices, is now available in eight countries in
Asia following its rollout in 2003 in Bangladesh,
mainland China, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.