UK Banking
Under the HSBC brand the bank maintains a network of around 1500 branches throughout England and Wales, with a much smaller presence in Scotland and Northern Ireland where local banks tend to dominate. Branches are undergoing a rolling program of refurbishment to improve the 'retail experience' as the bank puts it, including the rebranding of branches as 'stores' and the inclusion of more open areas for staff to meet customers, as well as HSBC Live, a radio station specifically produced for the bank by media company Immedia in Newbury, Berkshire.
In April 2008 HSBC launched a campaign selling mortgages. This was seen as a risky move by media and HSBC staff due to their previous non-plus attitude building on their 3% market share of the mortgage market. While other banks and building societies felt the effects of the 'credit crunch', HSBC, bolstered by a favourable savings to lending ratio, unveiled a mortgage rate matching deal that would offer non-HSBC mortgage customers the ability to match their current mortgage rate.
Read more about this topic: HSBC Bank (Europe)
Famous quotes containing the word banking:
“One of the reforms to be carried out during the incoming administration is a change in our monetary and banking laws, so as to secure greater elasticity in the forms of currency available for trade and to prevent the limitations of law from operating to increase the embarrassment of a financial panic.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)