HSBC plans to open nine more branches in RI
JAKARTA (JP): The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) will open nine more branches in major Indonesian cities by the end of next year to further boost its growing network in the country.
HSBC Indonesia deputy chief executive officer Alastair J. Bryce said in Jakarta on Friday that the expansion was part of the bank's global strategy to further develop its retail market.
"The new branches that we're opening will concentrate on personal business," he told The Jakarta Post following the signing of a cooperation agreement with PT Nikko Securities Indonesia.
He said the rapid expansion of HSBC's branches were a sign of confidence in the future of the Indonesian market.
Last month, he said, the bank opened one branch in the Puri Indah mall in West Jakarta. Two more branches at Taman Anggrek mall in West Jakarta and Plaza Senayan in Central Jakarta will follow within a week, he added.
In its media statement, HSBC said the new branches could serve customers seven days a week, thus making the bank the only foreign bank to open on Saturday and Sunday.
Bryce declined to say how much the bank had invested or planned to invest for its expansion plans.
However, he said the new branches were not large, with each employing eight to 12 staff members.
Outside Jakarta, HSBC has branches in Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan and Batam, he said.
"We'll be expanding our business across all parts of activities, so we're certainly not looking at doing anything less," Bryce said.
HSBC Indonesia is the foreign institution with the largest local network. It has three branches in Jakarta and five others in Surabaya, Medan, Bandung, Semarang and Batam.
Bryce said nine new branches would also be opening in Jakarta and the five cities.
He said the bank's lending in Indonesia had expanded significantly this year and most of the loans were extended to retail consumers.
"We're a global bank and we're looking to serve our multinational clients in other parts of the world," he explained.
Bryce said the surge in its retail market was part of the bank's global strategy to increase its business.
"That means a whole new range of personal financial services to our consumer banking customers," he said.
As for Indonesia, he said, the retail banking growth was more liability led, since HSBC focused thus far only on credit cards.
"We hope in the early part of next year to develop some loan products other than credit cards," he said.
Concerning Indonesia's banking sector, he said challenges were felt in the uncertainty of the currency and the interest rates.
"When we talk to most of our corporate clients, they say the main thing is the continuing uncertainty on the currency side," he said.
He estimated that the banking sector next year would recover slowly, due to the uncertain political condition.
"If anything happens in the economy, whether its foreign direct investment, it's all going to be driven by developments on the political front; and that situation is still quite volatile," he said.
But amid the uncertainty, he said he saw a sufficient amount of stability in the market to allow the economy to grow. (bkm)