HSBC bank is a global financial services organization operating worldwide with 8,000 offices in more than 90 countries. The company has assets valued at $2.6 billion ranking it among the largest financial institutions in the world. HSBC has five core values among them outstanding customer services. The bank has developed various innovative customer service products that have led to customer satisfaction. Among the most common products are; ATM services, Point of sale services, internet banking, mobile banking and payment system, and customer contact centers. According to Levesque and McDougall (1996), customer satisfaction forms a fundamental facet in improving an organization’s reputation and the HSBC bank has used its excellent customer service to gain market share in the countries it operates.
The bank has used the internet to develop products for improving its customer service. The bank has introduced online banking products like Hexagon and HSBC net which have enabled customers to make an account to account funds transfer, loan application and repayment, wire transfer, electronic bill payments, and online statement retrieval among many other services at the comfort of their homes. According to Chan (2005), the security of online services is important and organizations must keep them at the highest possible levels of security to make sure safety of clients’ information and money. Therefore, HSBC has invested resources in securing their online systems to secure transactions of their clients. HSBC has also introduced mobile banking services to improve customer service and increase efficiency in their services. Mobile services have enabled customers to get access to their bank accounts, process funds transfer, and many other services with increased flexibility.
The bank has located its ATMs at strategic locations to improve its customer service. They have located ATM service machines at most of the famous retail malls, airports, and train stations in the countries they work. The bank has further linked its services to international firms like VISA and MasterCard to improve their customer service. With these services, their clients have been able to use various points of sale (POS) services at major retailers and hotels (Customer service).
The bank has some of the most technologically advanced customer care centers among players in the banking sector. The bank has outsourced reliable call center services from reputable firms in their efforts to serve their customers better. The contact numbers for various departments and branches are available on their website and other printed media from the bank. Further, the bank ensures that the employees working in the customer care departments are well-trained to handle their customers better.
Apart from mobile and online banking systems, the bank has ensured the deployment of a reliable core banking system that cut operations turnaround time. The bank has deployed the T24 banking system in all its branches across the world increasing its overall operations. The bank has further extended its banking hours to give its customers more flexibility. The bank opens at nine o’clock in the morning until five o’clock in the evening every weekday and nine o’clock to noon on Saturdays (Customer service).
HSBC introduced a service to their customers whereby customers receive information when any transaction takes place in their accounts via SMS or email. These services have enabled curb incidences of fraud and helped grow customer confidence. The bank has also used the mail and SMS services to inform their customers about any scheduled system downtimes or any other information about their services. Frequent communication between the bank and its customers has seen their relationships grow (Customer service).
References
Chan, J. O. (2005). Toward a unified view of customer relationship management. The Journal of American Academy of Business, 6(1), 32-38.
Customer service (n.d). Web.
Levesque, T.J. & McDougall, G.H. (1996). Customer dissatisfaction. The relationship between types of problems and customer response. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences. Alberta Calgary, 13(3), 264-276.