StanChart targets China

The regional head of retail banking for Greater China and North Asia at Standard Chartered (2888), Mary Huen Wai-yi, said Hong Kong will be used as a hub to attract high net worth customers from the mainland to bring growth in retail banking income in the next three to five years.

Huen told Sing Tao Daily, sister paper to The Standard, the size of the local retail banking income pool stood at about US$10 billion (HK$78 billion), while that of the mainland is 10 times that in Hong Kong. In the face of the large market, she said, high net worth individuals in the mainland are the bank’s target in its wealth management services.

Since Standard Chartered’s announcement of restructuring last year, retail banking has become the group’s leading business.

After opening the a wealth management center at the Forum in Central, Huen said another one will be set up at Sheng Shui this year.

Expanding toward the north is a common strategy shared by many of the bank’s counterparts. “Retail banking is a huge income pool in the mainland,” said Huen, “and it is still at an early development stage, which gives us plenty of opportunities.”

Digitalization, Huen said, is another means by the bank to draw customers.

While digital tellers is a big trend in Hong Kong, Standard Chartered said it will take a step further to introduce Retail Workbench, where the bank’s staff will use iPads as a sales-and-service tool to issue credit cards and approve loans. But Huen said that digitization will not replace any of its 80 bank branches in Hong Kong.

The bank partnered with Asia Miles to put out a credit card last week, and Huen said the bank will have similar plans with Samsung in Korea.

Retail banking in the Greater China region accounts for one third of the group’s global business in the sector last year, seeing also a single-digit growth in income against the backdrop of an overall loss posted by the group.

STAFF REPORTER