HSBC secures awards in Digital, AI – Banking Category at HKB Technology Excellence Awards 2021

The future is here: Simplified data-driven banking meets world-class service 

HSBC, the largest bank in Hong Kong, was awarded for both Digital - Banking and AI - Banking categories at the HKB Technology Excellence Awards 2021. The company was recognized for its technological innovations in the banking sector, providing a more efficient and safer customer experience.

As part of its digital transformation, HSBC has adopted a data-driven approach for more time efficient services to customers through existing HSBC HK Mobile Banking App and HSBC Online Banking, while incorporating Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Solutions for better and even more reliable service delivery.

The Digital Banking Award was given to HSBC following their new Global Payment Tracker service. The company was the first retail bank in Hong Kong to offer its personal customers this international payment self-tracking solution. This service allows its users to track the payment status of outward telegraphic transfers (ORTT), offering an innovative improvement to customer experience, providing visibility and transparency when handling international payment transfers.

“We are proud to be the first retail bank in Hong Kong to empower our personal customers with such leading-edge status-tracking and to provide a world-class digital banking experience to our customers in Hong Kong.” said Sami Abouzahr, Head of Customer Wealth, Wealth and Personal Banking, Hong Kong, HSBC. 

Prior to the introduction of this service, customers had limited access in terms of visibility and tracking of their ORTT payment status. The customers no longer had access to their payment when it was processed outside of HSBC by an intermediary or payee bank. The extended processing time, compounded with the inability to track payment progress, led to more customer enquiries and a compromised customer experience. 

The company took notice of this mishap and invested in HSBC HK Mobile Banking App and HSBC Online Banking to empower their personal customers in Hong Kong to self-track their ORTT payment status via digital channels, anytime and anywhere. 

“This is a global solution design for which Hong Kong is the pioneer market. We will continue to gather feedback, enhance the journey and roll it out in other HSBC sites to help customers globally with their payment needs.” Levan Ng, Head of Liabilities & Transactional Banking, Wealth and Personal Banking, Hong Kong, HSBC explained.

Meanwhile, the AI – Banking recognition was awarded to HSBC for the successful introduction of their new AI tool to manage cash across ATMs in Hong Kong.

iCash provides data-driven forecasting of cash withdrawals in ATM Machines across the area. The AI tool enables efficient and accurate daily cash planning for HSBC which allows the bank to ensure cash availability for customers with optimized logistics of cash-in-transit.

According to the company, iCash allowed for more accurate forecasting based on data analytics. The highly accurate predictions of the system allowed the bank to put money exactly whenever and wherever their customers needed it.

“From a customer perspective, this behind-scene innovation has effectively improved the bank’s overall service and enhanced the accessibility of the physical self-service channel. No matter what time it is, even during daily peak hours, or public holidays, customers can always be assured of sufficient supply of cash notes from HSBC ATMs.” Chris Trill, Global Head of Wealth and Personal Banking Operations, HSBC. 

Furthermore, HSBC reported that the automated system enabled a faster and more efficient banking process. iCash has shortened the cash planning lead time from 1.5 working days to 15 minutes. As such, it helps mitigate robbery risk by changing cash deliveries based on actual demands instead of highly predictable routine schedules of valuables-in-transit, and minimise carbon footprint amounting to an approximate number of 13,200 trees every year by reducing the carbon consumption from delivery vehicles servicing the bank. 

HSBC further stressed the substantial cost-saving advantage of iCash. The company 

announced that the system will be rolled out to other key markets of HSBC globally. It is estimated that an annual saving of at least US$6m will be achieved through the global implementation of the solution. 

“Substantial operational cost saving has been realized with the data-enabled logistics optimization.” Chris revealed.