Access For All

Our aim is to provide convenient, secure and fast access to financial services. This includes harnessing the power of technology to offer our services across a wide range of platforms to give customers greater choice and control in managing their finances. It also means careful planning of our network of outlets and considering the special needs of different demographic groups in our community.

Serving Special-needs Populations
We are working to improve special-needs access to our banking services. Our website is designed with readability and ease of navigation as priorities. We have 166 outlets (as of March 2015) with wheelchair access, including street-level branches, MTR branches and standalone automated banking centres. At the end of 2013, we began introducing 'Social Caring Counters' at selected branches. These designated counters provide priority service to the elderly, disabled people and other customers in need.

As part of our partnership with Hong Kong Seeing Eye Dog Services (HKSEDS), visually impaired customers have been able to bring their HKSEDS assistance dogs into our main branch's banking halls since 2012. Other initiatives under this partnership include some of our branches being designated as HKSEDS 'training sites'.

Customer Convenience
Building on our strong market presence, 'iPoint' sales and service centre has been extended the presence from MTR to street level. In 2014, new 'iPoint' sales and services centres were set up in Kwun Tong, Mong Kok and Sheung Shui, adding to the two existing 'iPoint' centres in Central and Causeway Bay MTR stations. All iPoint centres operate from 11:30 to 19:30 from Monday to Saturday, and those in Causeway Bay, Mong Kok and Sheung Shui are also open on Sunday. The centres provide a range of services using a multimedia concept with particular appeal for busy professionals and younger customer segments.

Other technology-based initiatives include the 2013 launch of a first-of-its-kind near-field communication contactless payment channel that enables Hang Seng MasterCard holders to use their smartphones to make fast, secure payments at selected retail outlets.

At the end of 2014 we had 1.54 million Personal e-Banking customers - up by 7.7% compared with a year earlier.

Transparency, Accountability, Choice
We are committed to providing clear, transparent and balanced information to our customers. Product features, terms and conditions, and any associated risks are clearly communicated to ensure customers can make an informed decision.

Where relevant, we present several product options so that customers can select the solution that best suits their requirements. It is our policy to sell products and services based on customers' specific needs, in line with our core values of providing 'the right product and service at the right time for the right customer in the right way' and 'ethical and fair dealings for long-lasting business'.

In addition to established due diligence requirements, new products and services are reviewed and approved for launch by a Product Oversight Committee that reports to the Risk Management Committee and includes senior executives from risk, legal, compliance, finance and operations/IT functions. Every new service and product is also subject to an operational risk self-assessment process, which requires the identification, evaluation and mitigation of potential associated risks.

Customer Privacy
Ensuring the privacy of our customers' personal information and other data is critical in maintaining our reputation for good governance and establishing the trust that underpins lasting business relationships. We comply with all data privacy regulations and have established a set of 'Privacy Principles' to guide staff in protecting customer information. For more information, please see 'Data Privacy' in the Corporate Governance section of this report. Our branch facilities are designed to offer customers who need to discuss sensitive or confidential financial management matters an appropriate amount of privacy.

Our Service Pledge
In addition to complying with external regulations and guidelines, we apply a set of internal 'Customer Fairness Principles'.

Treat Me Fairly	We will build honest relationships with customers and deliver products and services at a fair price.
Tailored Solutions	We will listen to customers and work to understand their needs in order to provide the most suitable products and services.
Keep Me informed	We will provide clear, transparent, relevant and timely communications that give customers all the information they need to make informed choices.
Suitable Advice	When we provide advice to customers, it must based on a full understanding of their needs and best reflect their circumstances.
Meet Commitment	When we make commitments to customers as to how a product or service will perform, we will always endeavour to deliver on these commitments.
Flexibility	We will provide customers with the ability to change products or services as their requirements change without enforcing unreasonable barriers. If a customer wishes to complain or make a claim, the process will be easy to understand.

We are also governed by Hong Kong's Code of Banking Practice, HSBC Group's Group Standards Manual and our internal legal and compliance Functional Instruction Manual.

We provide a diverse range of personal banking and wealth management products to enable customers to select the solution that best suits their needs and is in line with their personal appetite for risk.

Our strong product manufacturing and distribution capabilities allow us to offer timely investment solutions to customers under different market situations and business conditions.