HSBC is planning to cut several banking fees for its retail banking customers in Hong Kong as virtual banks disrupt the banking industry amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The bank is cutting 26 general banking and transaction services fees, which is expected to benefit about four million account holders in the country.
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HSBC APAC regional head of wealth and personal banking Greg Hingston said: “Today’s cut reflects our commitment to making sure that everyone has the tools they need to thrive financially.
“We hope it will also help customers who have been hit hard by Covid-19’s economic fallout.”
The fee cuts will be effective from 1 November 2020.
The bank will cut fees for deposit and withdrawal of foreign currency banknotes, requests for banker’s reports and documents, passbook replacement, global fund transfers and remittances.
HSBC said that it will continue to charge fees on some of the services.
These include annual paper statements, penalty for late payment of credit card bills, annual fees for certain credit cards, and commissions related to sale of stocks, insurance and wealth management products.
HSBC’s wealth and personal banking unit head of customer propositions and marketing Brian Hui said: “It is the right time to cut those fees to help our customers who have been hit hard by the pandemic.
“We can attract more new customers while keeping our existing clients happy. This will also help us to cross-sell loans and other financial products.”
Hui added that the lender recorded a growth in customer sign-ups in August last year, resulting from eliminating the minimum balance fees.
The fee cut will help repair HSBC’s image, Lee added. The lender suspended its dividend payments from the fourth quarter of last year, which has prompted many local investors to complain.
Additionally, HSBC will migrate its HSBC Advance account holders to a new platform called HSBC One from next month-end, followed by retail accounts later.
HSBC One is a zero-balance account, while HSBC Advance deposit account requires a minimum balance of HK$200,000 ($25,805).
Other accounts are not affected by this move.
