Exec eyes growth for HSBC financial service

FILE: HSBC Building, Markham Liberty Square, Markham (Photo By Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine – Own work, CC0)

MANILA — Continuous growth of the Philippine economy made a ranking HSBC official forecast a robust expansion for the bank’s personalized financial service called Premier.

In a briefing Thursday, HSBC head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management Peter Faulhaber said Premier was launched in the country in March 2000 but it was re-launched last July.

“Since we re-launched in July, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of new Premier customers we’ve acquired over the last three months than what we have over the previous six months,” he said.

The financial service caters to people, who can put a minimum placement called total relationship balance (TRB) of PHP3 million, those who have a home loan amounting to at least PHP6 million, or those who have monthly salary of PHP300,000, which will be deposited as part of their TRB on a monthly basis.

Among the perks of being an HSBC Premier client include recognition of the said status in all countries with HSBC instantaneously, fee-free international online fund transfers between HSBC accounts, international account opening before the client arrives in his destination, access to HSBC Premier International Centers, and access to emergency cash from HSBC Premier Centers in about 65 countries and territories.

Faulhaber said this service will be beneficial to, among others, parents who send their kids to study overseas.

Citing results of the bank’s annual overseas education 2019 survey, the HSBC official said their clients noted issues of transferring funds abroad, difficultly to open a bank account in the country of destination, and getting a credit card as among the reasons parents face when sending their kids to study overseas.

He said these issues are what Premier wants to address to help their affluent clients.

Another feature of the personalized financial service is the extension of Premier’s benefits to the primary client’s kids.

For kids aged seven to 17 years, the product is called HSBC Premier Junior Pack while it is the HSBC Premier NextGen for children between 18-28 years of age.

“I think one of the key driving factors around the Premier Junior Pack and also the NextGen is in this day and age, regardless whether you’re in the Philippines or in the US, financial literacy and people understanding how money works is extraordinarily important,” Faulhaber added.