HSBC 2008 Annual Report Download - page 140

HSBC HOLDINGS PLC
Report of the Directors: Operating and Financial Review (continued)
Products and services
138
Products and services
Personal Financial Services
Personal Financial Services provides over
105 million individual and self-employed customers
with financial services in 62 countries. The selection
of products and services offered in each case is
determined by HSBC’s participation strategy in the
respective markets.
In markets where HSBC already has scale or, in
emerging markets where scale can be built over
time, HSBC offers a full range of personal financial
products and services. Typically, products provided
include personal banking products (current and
savings accounts, mortgages and personal loans,
credit cards, and local and international payment
services), together with consumer finance and wealth
management services.
In other markets, HSBC participates more
selectively, targeting only those customer segments
which have strong international connectivity or
where HSBC’s global scale is crucial.
HSBC Premier, the Group’s premium banking
service, provides personalised relationship
management, a single online view of all international
accounts, free international funds transfer between
HSBC accounts, 24-hour priority telephone access,
global travel assistance and wealth management
services. There are now over 2.6 million HSBC
Premier customers, who can use more than
300 specially designated Premier branches and
centres in 41 countries and territories.
Wealth management (insurance and investment
products and financial planning services) plays an
important part in meeting the needs of customers.
Insurance products distributed by HSBC through its
direct channels and branch networks include loan
protection, life, property and health insurance and
pensions. HSBC also makes available a wide range
of investment products. A choice of third-party and
proprietary funds provides customers with the ability
to diversify their investments across a range of best-
in-class fund managers chosen after a rigorous and
objective selection process. Comprehensive financial
planning services covering customers’ investment,
retirement, personal and asset protection needs are
offered through qualified financial planning
managers.
Personal customers prefer to conduct their
financial business at times convenient to them, using
the sales and service channels of their choice. This
demand for flexibility is met through the increased
provision of direct channels such as the internet and
self-service terminals, in addition to traditional and
automated branches and service centres accessed by
telephone.
HSBC is a major global credit card issuer with
over 100 million credit cards in force in 49 countries.
In addition to HSBC branded cards, HSBC Finance
in the US offers Household Bank and Orchard Bank
branded cards and affiliation programmes such as
the GM card and the AFL-CIO Union Plus card.
HSBC is also a provider of third-party private label
credit cards (or store cards) through merchant
relationships.
HSBC Finance’s operations in the US, the UK
and Canada also make credit available to customers
not well catered for by traditional banking operations
and facilitate point-of-sale credit in support of retail
purchases. At the end of February 2009, HSBC
authorised the discontinuation as soon as practicable
of all new receivable originations of all products by
the branch-based consumer lending business of
HSBC Finance in North America (see page 70).
High net worth individuals and their families
who choose the differentiated services offered within
Private Banking are not included in this customer
group.
Commercial Banking
HSBC is one of the world’s leading and most
international banks, with over 2.9 million
Commercial Banking customers in 63 countries,
including sole proprietors, partnerships, clubs and
associations, incorporated businesses and publicly
quoted companies. At 31 December 2008, HSBC
had total commercial customer account balances of
US$236 billion and total commercial customer loans
and advances, net of loan impairment allowances, of
US$204 billion.
HSBC segments its Commercial Banking
business into corporate, mid-market, small and micro
businesses, allowing the development of tailored
customer propositions while adopting a broader view
of the entire Commercial Banking sector, from sole
traders to top-end mid-market corporations. This
allows HSBC to provide continuous support to
companies as they grow in size both domestically
and internationally, and ensures a clear focus on the
small and micro business sectors, which are typically
the key to innovation and growth in market
economies.
HSBC places particular emphasis on
geographical collaboration to meet its business
customers’ needs and aims to be recognised as the
leading international business bank and the best bank