SINGAPORE: HSBC will open three wealth centres in Singapore by the first quarter of 2025, the bank says.
The three centres will be in the central business district (CBD) as well as the east and west regions of Singapore.
They will increase HSBC’s investment in its physical network five-fold.
As part of plans to grow in Singapore, HSBC also plans to increase the number of client-facing roles by more than a third by 2028. The bank currently has a staff strength of about 4,000 in Singapore.
The first wealth centre will open in June in the CBD.
The centres – the other two will open progressively over 2024 and the first quarter of 2025 – will serve clients across the full wealth spectrum, from the mass market to affluent, high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth customer segments.
HSBC’s wealth and personal banking business includes retail banking, global private banking, the life insurance business HSBC Life, and the asset management business HSBC Asset Management.
With its business lines under one umbrella, Ashmita Acharya, head of wealth and personal banking at HSBC Singapore, said the bank has a “very powerful and unique proposition” to meet all its clients’ needs.
In particular, HSBC sees future growth opportunities from the emerging affluent millennials segment, and is relooking its personal banking products and services to cater to them, she added.
Chief executive Wong Kee Joo said the bank is not going fully digital and cutting down branches because banking is about relationships and trust.
“It is really about having the people in the location where our customers can interact and build a relationship, but using digital technology to take away the friction for some of the things that they want to do,” he added.
Over the last five years, HSBC has doubled its investments in technology in Singapore to uplift staff capabilities and improve its delivery of customer services and experiences.
The plan to open wealth centres follows similar moves by its peers. In February, Citibank opened two wealth facilities at One Holland Village and Parkway Parade, in addition to the main Citi Wealth Hub at Orchard.
Standard Chartered Bank told The Straits Times that it has four priority banking centres and one international banking and priority private centre to serve affluent clients’ wealth needs.
OCBC opened its integrated lifestyle and banking centre in Wisma Atria shopping mall in November 2022.
Acharya said clients go to the wealth centre because they want to have a conversation about their future, about retirement or about planning for their next generation. It therefore boils down to the passion of relationship managers to have conversations and engage with them.
“That is going to be the differentiator: How do our people build these long-term relationships?” — The Straits Times/ANN
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
