In an exclusive interview with Business Today’s Managing Editor Anand Adhikari, HSBC’s Global Chief Executive of Wealth & Personal Banking, Nuno Matos discussed at the changing face of retail banking, and its relationship with fintechs.
Globally, retail banking is going through a big transformation because of new technologies, the competition emerging from fintech firms, and the fact that millennials are tech-savvy. However, it is not that traditional banks are becoming obsolete. They are also catching up fast by digitising their processes, putting as many applications on the cloud as possible and also partnering with fintechs to offer customers a frictionless journey. In fact, the outbreak of the pandemic has further accelerated the digitisation journey of banks.
In an exclusive interview with Business Today’s Managing Editor Anand Adhikari, HSBC’s Global Chief Executive of Wealth & Personal Banking, Nuno Matos discussed the changing face of retail banking. Excerpts from an interview.
NM: Most of the banks globally, and certainly HSBC, are already digital banks. Today, 93 per cent of our transactions globally in the retail and wealth space are done through digital channels. In fact, we are much more than a digital bank. That is the distinction. We believe in a model where we deliver the best of our advice combined with the best-in-class convenience of a digital experience. That is our model.
We believe that to be relevant to our customers, to be the most relevant financial service provider, we have to combine people and digital. It cannot just be digital. It also depends on the segments you serve. Some segments, naturally, are more digitally served. whereas other segments demand more bankers’ and relationship managers’ interaction. Our model is a hybrid model, which combines the best of human advice with the best of digital and technology. And it’s very important to understand why that is.
We firmly believe that technology and digital platforms bring great convenience. It allows customers to bank on their terms, where they want, when they want, but trust, which is what we believe our business is all about. Trust is at a higher level. Trust is about human beings interacting face-to-face with our customers. It’s a model that has the best of people and the best of technology. That’s what we believe. It goes without saying that more and more transactions will be converted to digital. Our strategy in that regard is very simple. Anything that the customer can do, will be able to do it, in the mobile. We call it the mobile first approach.
What kinds of behavioural changes have you observed amongst customers since the pandemic?
NM: Customers have certainly accelerated their digital adoption. That goes without saying. What we saw in two years was probably equivalent to the [digital adoption of] previous five years. In the last two years, we have significantly accelerated customer adoption, both in terms of how they open an account, more and more becoming digital, or part of our sales are coming now through digital platforms through mobile, or payments and consultation of balances, servicing transactions that go through digital. That was a tremendous acceleration.
There are other trends on the investment side. We are seeing customers being more sensitive to the sustainability investment theme. Customers associated the pandemic with a world that is not sustainable with a world that is not green. And the pandemic had the effect of calling out the need for a more sustainable world. We saw our wealth customers wanting to invest more and more in sustainable investment opportunities. They want to have an impact on the transition of the world to a greener economy. Customers also became more concerned with their wellness, with their health and well-being.
