HSBC Bank: Analyzing Customer Complaints and Digital Solutions

This report provides an analysis of HSBC Bank, examining various aspects of its operations and customer interactions. It begins with a brief overview of HSBC's global presence and services, followed by an exploration of customer complaints regarding the account opening process and the bank's response through the implementation of Vizolution's LinkScreen technology. The report also addresses employee complaints related to the introduction of new technologies and their impact on job security and efficiency. A comparison between online and traditional banking systems highlights the advantages of digital platforms. Furthermore, the analysis identifies gaps in customer experiences, particularly concerning data privacy and the user interface of digital applications. The report also considers customer negotiation strategies and the diverse needs of HSBC's global customer base. A chart summarizes customer types, their body language, verbal approaches, and common complaints. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding customer expectations and providing tailored solutions to enhance the overall banking experience.

Running head: HSBC BANK
HSBC BANK
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note:

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Brief Bank Profile
HSBC is one of the biggest private banks in the world originating in Honk Kong,
however the bank is actually a “British multinational company and financial service
company”. The bank is ranked seventh in terms of the total assets it holds. The bank has its
origin mainly in Hong Kong and some of the resources from Shanghai and it has branches all
over the world. The company serves about 38 million customers through 4 sectors “Retail
Banking and Wealth Management, Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and
Global Private Banking” (Hsbc.co.in). The bank has its network in 67 countries in various
parts of the world including “Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, North America and
Latin America.”.
Customer Complaints
The process of making new accounts was perceived to be long drawn and problematic
in many cases the customers complained of experiencing a complicated process which
required multiple signatures at various places and also required physical visits to the various
stores. The customer complaints were addressed by the company in a very unique and
innovative manner. The company developed the process of digitally making accounts with
the technology known as the Vizolution’s technology, LinkScreen, the company made the
process much easier and faster for the customers (Vizolution.co.uk). However after the
technology was built it was perceived by many of the customers to be long drawn and
painful. Deborah Samuel, the Associate, Commercial Customer Solutions Team states
“Customers actually put off calling us because they think the process is going to be painful.
They are simply amazed when the whole thing only takes a few minutes.”

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Employee Complaints
The employees are often wary about new technologies that are being implemented in
the companies. The problem lies in the fact that the new technologies are often not
compatible with the existing systems. There are many employees who would not be tech
savvy enough to take up the new systems that are being implemented. Apart from that there
are often complains about the fact that many employees may be losing their job because of
the newly developed automated systems. The existing employees who were doing the job in a
manual way would not be needed anymore because of the implementation of technology in
various fields. Therefore the apprehension lies in the fact that the existing employees might
be losing their job in the process and the employees who would be finding it difficult to adapt
with the new technology may be then alienated from their job. However there were the other
side of view which state that the many of the employees are asking for a new technology to
adopt a new technology in order to lessen the existing time to make a new account, and also
to make the process more transparent so that the trust of the customers are higher.
Differences between the customer journey for online vs. traditional banking
The traditional banking system is generally perceived to be more time and labour
consuming. This is very evident for the fact that the customers has to be present in the banks
in order to make the accounts withdraw money or do similar banking activities (Kuur and
Jacobsen). The traditional banking system has lesser space for technological advantages as it
is mandatory for the customers to be physically present in order to complete the transactions.
However there are much more technological windows in the case of internet banking. In the
case of internet banking the customers can perform all the banking activities from their
mobile device itself, at any locations they are in and at any time they want to perform such
activities.

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The new technology that is being devised by HSBC, is the system of a virtual digital
phone call and interaction where the customer can complete making their new accounts on
gadgets without being present mandatorily within the location of the bank. “Using
Vizolution’s technology, LinkScreen sets up a digitally assisted phone conversation – as easy
as the branch experience, but more efficient. Customers complete and sign applications
electronically, quickly, and can see all information required by regulators” (Sprenzel). This
gives much more ease and comfort to the customers as they can access all the information
they need in any place they desire on the screens. The main challenge in this case was to
provide the customers with the necessary information which are actually relevant in that
situation. “A reduction in the number of face-to-face sales visits has made the team more
productive and reduced the cost of sale”. Face to face visit by the customers actually
increases the engagement of each of the employees. When that is reduced the employees can
concentrate on other aspects of business.
Gaps identified by the customers
The customers of HSBC are from various socio cultural backgrounds which makes it
possible for the company to offer their products and services in various packages as per the
requirements of the customers. Examples can be given by stating the fact that the way HSBC
Australia would be offering service to the customers and the products it would be offering
would be quite different than the products and services offered by HSBC China or HSBC
Nepal. Therefore this particular project was first launched in UK as a pilot project to
understand the customer reaction to the product in that particular context, in the framework of
socio cultural setting of UK (Buil, Catalán, and Martínez). It is generally seen by the
Hofstede model that UK is a country which is masculine in nature which implies that the
country will be more interested in result oriented activities which are productive and giving
immediate results (Hofstede). The customers who checked this product found gaps such as

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the lack of transparency about how safe the personal data is within the software and how the
software might be using the particular data in transmitting information about the customers to
the different entities within the bank. Various bank employees and departments might be
using the customer data in processing various tasks. However there must be transparency in
the process and the consumers must be aware about how their data is being used by the bank
in what ways. This problem can be solved by programming the software in a way that
explains the customers how their data will be used by a flow chart.
The customer also found at rare occasions there were technical glitches and bugs that
are hampering the smooth flow of the operation of the application. In some occasions there
were instances of the application being stopped abruptly. The customers also stated that the
software lacked a very interesting interface and the process was fast but boring as it lacked
transitional effects. This can be solved by hiring technical experts who will identify and solve
the bugs.
Customer negotiation
As it is already stated that the bank has presence in countries all over the world and it
si serving customers from all ethnic and cultural background therefore it is imperative that the
customers from different socio economic strata will be negotiating with the bank as per their
own perception of economy. This is the reason that the customers are stratified by the
company and various types of products and services are formulated by the bank.
This particular software is developed and launched in the UK market. The country
UK in itself is culturally diverse and supporting people from all nations around the world.
The attitude of the people are different who belong to different nationalities.
The technology must be friendly to people from all cultural backgrounds by
addressing their problems and perceptions about life. Customer identification can be done

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through the program that is fed into the new technology. The new technology would at one
hand make the process hassle free for the customers to make new accounts or participate in
online banking, on the other hand the technology will be enabled to stratify and identify the
customers by the trail of attitude they would reflect in their online activities.
The various categories of customers in the banks are those who take Business loans
and other loans, those who have Savings accounts, those having Debit and credit cards, the
Merchant services (“credit card processing, reconciliation and reporting, check collection)”
and the customers availing Cash management services (“payroll services, deposit services”,
etc.).
Chart
Customer type Body Language
And verbal
approach
Typical Complaints Addressing the
issues
Millennials Casual Technical Developing
technology
Baby Boomers Serious Errors in
calculations
Simplifying the
service
Boomers Slow Technology is
complicated
Simplifying the
service

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Reference:
Buil, Isabel, Sara Catalán, and Eva Martínez. "The importance of corporate brand identity in
business management: An application to the UK banking sector." BRQ Business
Research Quarterly 19.1 (2016): 3-12.
Hofstede, G. "Cultural Dimensions: Country comparison." (2017).
Hsbc.co.in. "About HSBC | HSBC India." About.hsbc.co.in. N.p., 2018. Web. 29 May
(2018).
Kuur, Mathias Lundsgaard, and Jon Brandt Jacobsen. "Innovation in banking-a study of team
dynamics." (2016).
Sprenzel, Ulrich. "Innovation in Banking." (2015).
Vizolution.co.uk. "Main Home - Vizolution." Vizolution. N.p., 2018. Web. 29 May 2018.