HSBC 2002 Annual Report Download - page 17

15
Total assets* split by geographical region
As at 31 December 2002
%
Europe 45.7
Hong Kong 24.1
North America 18.9
Rest of Asia Pacific 10.2
South America† 1.1
*excludes Hong Kong SAR Government certificates of
indebtedness
†Formerly described as Latin America, which included
Group entities in Panama and Mexico, which are now
included in North America
Europe
Europe contributed US$3,500 million, or 36.3 per
cent, to HSBC’s profit on ordinary activities before
tax in 2002 compared with US$3,542 million in
2001. The UK contributed US$3,176 million in 2002
compared with US$3,147 million in 2001.
HSBC’s main subsidiaries in Europe are HSBC
Bank plc, CCF S.A., HSBC Private Banking
Holdings (Suisse) S.A., HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt
KGaA and HSBC Bank A.S..
HSBC Bank plc
Headquartered in London, HSBC Bank services
over 6 million personal current accounts, inter alia,
through a network of 1,633 branches in the UK,
including 42 outlets in supermarkets. Customers also
have access to approximately 3,000 HSBC Bank
ATM machines, over 42,000 cash machines through
the UK LINK network and over 835,000 ATM
machines worldwide. HSBC Bank serves
approximately 14 per cent of the personal current
account market in England and Wales. At 31
December 2002, on a consolidated basis, HSBC
Bank’s total assets were US$352 billion, total
customer balances were US$211 billion and total net
customer loans were US$169 billion.
HSBC Bank’s strategy is to build long-term
customer relationships by listening to customers,
understanding their needs and delivering the most
effective solutions.
In following this strategy during 2002, the bank
continued to invest in improving customer
relationship management systems, in creating more
convenient service channels ranging from
conventional branches to the internet and mobile
phones, in developing innovative and flexible
products and in building a reputation for fair pricing.
Evidencing customers’ continuing response to
easier access to banking services, 5 million calls per
month are now answered across HSBC call centres
(excluding First Direct). Matching customer
preference, over 50 per cent of all telephone calls are
handled through automated systems, providing a
more efficient and cost effective service. This has
allowed call centres to be used for more outward
bound calls leading to more customers purchasing
financial products and services over the telephone.
Over 780,000 sales, including personal loans
totalling over US$1.2 billion, were made through
Direct Financial Services in 2002, an increase of
over 280,000 sales on 2001.
Demand for remote services continues to grow
and HSBC Bank is responding with continued
investment in internet banking, TV banking and
ATMs. Some 1.2 million customers are now
registered for personal internet banking with a
further 177,000 customers registered for TV
Banking. These customers access their bank account
details around one million times weekly via personal
internet banking, and over half of all payments on
demand are made online.
Global processing, through the establishment of
Group Service Centres (GSCs), continued to play an
important role in HSBC’s strategic aim of pursuing
economies of scale in order to increase productivity
and achieve a competitive and economic advantage.
Since their introduction in 1996, the GSCs have
progressively fulfilled more of the back office
functions previously undertaken by HSBC’s
principal members, including HSBC Bank. The
centres provide a wide range of activities for a
growing number of business areas, including cards,
mortgage processing, investment products and retail
banking.
The HSBC Premier customer account base in
the UK has grown by 44 per cent during 2002. The
Premier telephone service has been enhanced to
include the opening of personal loans, credit cards
and savings accounts. 22 per cent of Premier
customers have registered for personal internet
banking.