HSBC 2004 Annual Report Download - page 54

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC
Financial Review (continued)
52
• Finance Asia and Global Finance named HSBC
‘Best Trade Finance Bank’ in Asia and in Hong
Kong for the eighth and fourth successive years
respectively. HSBC was also named ‘Best
Foreign Commercial Bank’ in China, India,
Indonesia and Malaysia.
Europe
• In the UK, the segmentation of customers was
refined. 21 corporate banking centres were
launched to service top tier customers, a further
209 commercial centres were established to
address the banking needs of larger SMEs,
while for the rest of the SME market a dedicated
outbound contact unit was created.
• 2004 was a record year for commercial
acquisitions, which, coupled with the best
customer retention of any UK high street bank,
resulted in HSBC reporting a net gain in
commercial customers. Over 100,000 start-up
business accounts were opened, and HSBC now
has a 20 per cent market share.
• New products were launched, including
business wealth planning, an award-winning
flexible commercial mortgage, and HSBCnet.
• In France, an exercise was undertaken to
segment HSBC’ s customer base, creating
dedicated regional teams to manage major
commercial banking relationships. Some
significant early successes in transactional and
investment banking mandates and cross border
referrals were achieved.
Hong Kong
• Five business banking centres were established
in 2004, serving small commercial customers.
Located in key business areas, they offer a one-
stop service for account opening, trade services
and insurance sales.
• HSBC launched the first ever Hong Kong
marketing campaign aimed at SME start-up
businesses. The start-up segment has
experienced sustained growth and new account
openings in 2004 increased by 49 per cent.
• 2004 was a record year for new facilities put in
place for Hong Kong and Taiwanese customers
in mainland China, which more than doubled on
2003. A first-of-its-kind, co-ordinated
advertising campaign in Hong Kong, mainland
China and Taiwan was launched in October to
further awareness of HSBC’ s Greater China
capabilities and to promote the Group across the
region. The full effect of the campaign is
expected to contribute positively to performance
in 2005.
Rest of Asia-Pacific
• HSBC Middle East launched HSBCnet across
6 countries in the region. Express Cash Service,
an offering designed to assist corporate
customers with the transportation of large
volumes of cash, was launched in the UAE and
Qatar.
• Islamic business in Commercial Banking
experienced strong growth in Malaysia, with
customer advances more than doubling and
accounting for approximately 80% of the HSBC
Bank Malaysia’ s Islamic-based customer
advances.
North America
• Business Smart was launched in the US in
September. Business Smart is the first product
from a major financial institution in New York
City to offer commercial customers free
checking accounts. 11,000 accounts were
opened in the three months following the
launch.
• The commercial real estate business on the US
West coast successfully expanded beyond Los
Angeles and San Francisco to other areas in
California, including San Diego.
• In Mexico, a new product for small businesses,
Estímulo, was launched. The product offers an
integrated package of financial services,
targeting a sector which is currently under-
served by banks.
South America
• In Brazil, HSBC Seguros launched two new
insurance products targeted at small and micro-
sized enterprises. EmpresaSegura is a property
insurance product and VidaProtegida
Empresarial is a group life and personal
accident policy.
• Cross-selling to commercial customers of
Losango boosted loan growth in Brazil. Thirty-
six per cent of this customer base purchased
HSBC products, with more than 5,000 new
accounts opened in 2004.