HSBC Holdings PLC said that the company is well-positioned for strong growth across all business lines in Taiwan this year, in particular its retail banking and wealth management (RBWM) offerings.
Taiwan remains among the 8 priority RBWM markets in the Asia Pacific for the company and service enhancements are set to be rolled out following digital transformation investments of US$1.7 billion, the company said, adding that it is committed to further commitments for further development.
The company is focusing its digital initiatives that would benefit customers and meet their needs, Kevin Martin, head of Asia Pacific retail banking and wealth management at HSBC.
“We aim to respond to our customers and bring control back to their end, and the best way to do so is by adopting digital and mobile services,” Martin said.
“Customers enjoy having full control of their time and the ability to meet their banking needs without the limitation of business hours and branch visits,” Martin said.
Last year, HSBC’s RBWM businesses in Taiwan posted record-setting pretax profits of US$43 million, and part of that achievement is due to a shift away from its growth-centric focus, and instead adopting a new incentive system that tracks performance wholistically, Martin said.
Instead of setting specific product targets, the company’s relationship managers now focus more on growing with customers, leading to less attrition, Martin said, adding that the shift is the culmination of a transition that had taken place in the past 3 to 4 years
He is also upbeat that expectations of higher interest rates would lend growth in the Asia Pacific’s RBWM market, in particular in Taiwan and other markets with rapidly aging populations.
The company’s latest digital initiatives in Taiwan include the launching of Google Pay in January, while Samsung Pay and Apple Pay are expected to be launched before the end of the first half to round out its payments offerings for customers.
Streamlining the credit card approval process has been one of the company’s priorities, said HSBC Bank (Taiwan) head of retail banking and wealth management(葉清玉) said.
Last month, the company launched a new feature that allows customers to apply for HSBC credit cards with any existing credit card that is issued by a list of 19 Taiwanese banks, Yip said, noting that the prerequisite covers about 67 percent of active credit cards in Taiwan, and cuts down the time required to validate customers’ identities to just a few seconds.
Another innovation is a new tablet application that has empowered the company’s insurance relationship managers by allowing them to display pre-filled customer data forms to reduce errors, and increase efficiency of the insurance sales journey, Yip said, adding that customers’ insurance needs are also more accurately gauged with the application’s checking mechanism.
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