HSBC Exec Lays Out The Bank’s B2B Expansion Strategy

Diane Reyes, global head of payments and cash management for HSBC, looks to the globe when she’s asked where her company is headed. “We aim to reinforce our leading position in trade finance, to improved client coverage in product and payments and cash management, increase foreign exchange collaboration across our global businesses and renew the capabilities of our electronic distribution platforms and strengthen our leading position in the renminbi services,” she said recently.

But in drilling into her five-year plan to grow HSBC 60 percent over the next five years, she flagged three specific priorities: People investment; product investment; and innovation. In a speech, she detailed where she wants to head with each.

On people, Reyes wants to add “client-facing roles in places where its key customers are doing business now and where they are going to be in the future. The people she will add won’t just be business development people—at least 60 percent will be people focused on client management, integration and servicing/support,” according to a story in IT Treasurer.

On products, Reyes said that feet on the street is the only way to accurately determine how people are using the company’s various payment and cash management products. “HSBC’s systems will need to be capable of managing big shifts in customer needs. As the number one bank connecting corporates to SWIFT, for example, HSBC sees tremendous upside in new products taking advantage of SWIFT connectivity. There is also much to be done in introducing consistent products that are accessible across one, global HSBC network.”

Innovation has the greatest potential return. “HSBC wants to lead in innovations surrounding digitalization on mobile platforms. HSBCnet, the bank’s global online banking platform, should not only be entirely mobile accessible, but designed for mobile access. Citing the attitudes of her own children to depositing checks via mobile banking apps, Ms. Reyes believes that generational acceptance of mobile banking risks will quickly alter the landscape as they come to demand mobile access. Already, HSBCnet Mobile has the bank on its way, having initiated $1.2bn in payments this year alone, and working with MNCs on collections/payment receipt confirmation in a growing number of key markets,” the story noted.