HSBC invites customers to “create their bank”
HSBC has created a social network-like online community to collect the views of customers on how it can improve its products and services and “help create their future bank”.
The UK-only forum, dubbed “Viewpoint” promises to provide customers with a forum to “share experiences and ideas about banking with HSBC”.
The aim is to get regular feedback from customers on “issues that matter”, according to an email sent to customers inviting them to join the forum.
Members will be asked to assess written marketing communications for clarity and readability, their attitudes on the use of digital technology and opinions on how the bank’s products and service better reflect their lifestyles.
A spokeswoman for HSBC says the community is a way to “get more and better knowledge and understanding of our customers”, adding that it help “ give us the best possible view of what they [customers] do, and why, so that we can make better business decisions.”
The bank will be hoping that by engaging with customers in this way, it will bolster advocacy levels. The traditional high street banks have come under pressure from several new entrants with Metro Bank, M&S Bank and Virgin Money expanding their operations with promises to offer more customer-focussed banking.
Perception of it and others in the sector has been hit hard by a series of crises. HSBC was accused by US senators of operating a money-laundering conduit for drug dealers and rogue states.
Elsewhere, Barclays was found guilty of rigging the inter-bank lending rate, while computer problems at Natwest left thousands of customers unable to draw their salaries.
The bank launched a global branding campaign in 2006, asking customers for their “point of view” but that aimed to highlight how the bank’s customers differed worldwide.
