HSBC bullish on Philippine economy

MANILA, Philippines — British banking giant HSBC is targeting to boost its financial services, onboard more affluent clients into its wealth management business and increase its lending capabilities in the country as it sees huge opportunities for the Philippines in the coming years.

In a roundtable discussion with reporters, HSBC head of wealth and personal banking of South Asia Kai Zhang said 2024 would be a strong year for the bank.

This developed as HSBC aims to accelerate three key areas of its business by boosting the growth of affluent international customer base.

“We are building all these capabilities. Our aim is to really bring more customers onto our platform, and the key is really around the affluent and international segments, where we can serve the needs as customers grow in different stages of their life cycle,” she said.

HSBC is also planning to accelerate its wealth management capabilities by bringing in new product sets and tools in the market as well as streamlining sale processes.

The foreign bank is launching new lending products to help support their customers, as the Philippines is a service- and consumption-driven economy.

“We have a lot of opportunities in really meeting the financial needs for individuals and new families,” she said. “Through credit cards, personal loans and mortgages, we actually serve the lending needs of our customers.”

She added that HSBC would continue to digitize across its operations in the region to be able to offer clients easily accessible financial services.

“There is just a lot of opportunity that’s untapped and I think we’re going to work with our global platform team and bring more capabilities into the Philippines,” she said. “As a 150-year-old bank, (we should) play a very important role to meet the growing financial needs of the population here.”

Zhang pointed out that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region holds the world’s fastest growing economies, with the Philippines as one of its growth leaders.

“The attractiveness of ASEAN and opportunities really stems from the economic growth, and also the size of the economy,” she said.

She also noted that the country’s young demographics