In order to better serve customers during the COVID-19 outbreak, support pandemic control efforts, and facilitate work and production resumption, banks are prioritizing their digital transformation efforts.
Acknowledging Covid-19 controls, Richard Li, executive vice president and head of Wealth and Personal Banking for HSBC in China, said, “For the banking industry, enhancing the convenience of online services helps support pandemic prevention efforts in society. Digitization is part on an ongoing trend for banking services.”
The launch of HSBC China’s Smart Mobile Onboarding (SMO) for customers across mainland China, to enable individual customers to apply for the opening of Category I RMB accounts via the mobile channel. HSBC is the first foreign bank to introduce the service in mainland China.
“As one of our ongoing financial countermeasures against the epidemic launching Smart Mobile Onboarding will enable the opening of Category I accounts via mobile channels – we hope that this will represent a breakthrough in driving digital transformation among foreign banks.”
Using SMO individual customers can complete an application for an appointment to open a Category I RMB account online through HSBC China WeChat Banking or Internet Banking in 10 minutes.
This new smart digital process significantly enhances account opening efficiency, and under the premise that risks control measures for including customer due diligence are in place, it also helps minimize face-to-face account handling time at the branches.
By going through SMO journey, customers only need to bring their valid ID documents and visit the branch once to provide their signatures, and the new account will be fully activated. Overall, this will help to reduce 15 to 20 minutes of branch visiting time.
Also, existing customers can use One Sentence Builder, an interactive and easy-to-use tool to build their own cross-asset investment portfolio based on their investment preference and markets views on mobile devices. The tool is embedded in the HSBC mobile app providing one-stop access to various investment offerings available in HSBC mainland China.
