HSBC UK — BrandWiki

HSBC UK

Overview

HSBC UK Bank plc

former name	HSBC UK RFB Limited (20152017) HSBC UK RFB Plc (821 August 2017)‡R1R‡
type	Subsidiary
predecessor	Midland Bank
foundation	August 22, 1836 in Birmingham, Great Britain (as the Birmingham and Midland Bank) January 1, 2018 (rebranded as HSBC UK)
location	1 Centenary Square, Birmingham, England, UK
key people	Dame Clara Furse (chairman) David Lindberg Chief Executive)
num employees	85,000 (including its subsidiaries)
industry	Finance and insurance
products	Financial services
parent	HSBC Holdings
homepage	https://hsbc.co.uk/

HSBC UK Bank plc is a British multinational banking and financial services organisation based in Birmingham, England. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the global HSBC banking and financial group, which has been headquartered in London since 1993. The UK headquarters of HSBC is located at One Centenary Square in Birmingham.

HSBC UK Bank plc is one of the four major clearing banks in the United Kingdom. The business ranges from the traditional high street roles of personal finance and commercial banking, to private banking, consumer finance as well as corporate and investment banking. Across all brands the bank operates some 1800 sites in the UK.

HSBC UK Bank plc is the only one of Britain's big five banks to hold more deposits than loans (loan:deposit ratio of 90%).[2] This has led to the bank being seen as a less risky proposition than the other banks by investors and customers, as it is able to fully fund its own operations. This also contributed to the company's share price maintaining value throughout the credit crunch, unlike other banks in the market.

Acquisition of Midland Bank

UK banking

The bank maintains a network of 327 branches throughout England and Wales,[3] with a much smaller presence in Scotland and Northern Ireland where local banks tend to dominate. In recent years, branches have undergone a programme of rolling refurbishment, with a focus on open-plan areas, increased self-service 'Express Banking' machines, ATMs, and an improved layout.[4] Branches also feature HSBC Live, a radio station specifically produced for the bank by media company Immedia in Newbury, Berkshire.[5]

In mid-2003, HSBC became the first UK high-street lender to offer homebuying products in compliance with Sharia (Islamic) law, which prohibits the charging or payment of interest. The range now includes a bank account, home insurance policy (takaful), and home finance.

In April 2008, HSBC launched a campaign selling mortgages. This was seen as a risky move by media and HSBC staff due to their previous non-plus attitude building on their 3% market share of the mortgage market. While other banks and building societies felt the effects of the 'credit crunch', HSBC, bolstered by a favourable savings to lending ratio, unveiled a mortgage rate matching deal that would offer non-HSBC mortgage customers the ability to match their current mortgage rate.

In 2009, the bank closed its outlets in Morrisons supermarkets which had traded under the Your bank at Morrisons brand following the end of an agreement between the two businesses. The outlets offered a range of financial services, including an exclusive credit card and savings account.

In March 2015, the bank announced its intention to move its UK retail banking headquarters from London to Birmingham (One Centenary Square) in 2018 as part of the programme of ring-fencing overseen by the Prudential Regulation Authority.[6][7] The programme saw the bank segregate 250 IT systems, change sort code details for approximately 400,000 accounts, and transfer almost 14.5m customers to the new UK arm.[8] The bank also announced it would brand the new arm, including all of its branches, as HSBC UK. It had previously been speculated that HSBC might revive the Midland Bank name or use the first direct brand for its branch network. The new name was rolled out in 2018.[9]

As part of setting up the new bank, a new board and legal structure was created. In November 2016, Clara Furse was named as the first Chairwoman of HSBC UK Bank plc.[10]

Other UK operations

First Direct

In 1989, Midland Bank launched First Direct, the pioneer of telephone banking, with a person-to-person service available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It continues to operate as a division of HSBC UK. It now offers internet banking as well and serves more than 1.7 million customers. By 2004, First Direct had established a position as the United Kingdom's most recommended bank.[11] As of 2020, results of surveys commissioned by the Competition and Markets Authority showed it continued to be the most recommended UK bank.[12][13]

HFC Bank

Household International established HFC Bank as consumer finance business in the UK in 1973, it became one of the largest consumer finance companies in the UK before Household was acquired by HSBC in 2003. HFC Bank provides retail credit to many leading national retailers and is the largest point of sale loan provider in the UK. The business focuses on retail finance through branches and direct channels, and co-branded and loyalty credit cards. Some of the key brands are the recently relaunched Beneficial Finance (with around 160 branches) and marbles. HFC Bank has around 3.5 million customers.

Other brands

As a result of the Household acquisition, the UK group gained expertise allowing it to enter joint ventures and contracts with more high street names, such as taking over Marks and Spencer's financial division, now M&S Bank, on a partnership basis in 2004 and the John Lewis Partnership Card contract.

Along with Barclays Bank, HSBC UK Bank plc owns 50% of Vaultex UK Limited,[14] a bulk cash processing company and member of the Bank of England's Note Circulation Scheme,[15] which handles all bulk cash processing for both banks.[16]

On March 13, 2023, after a bidding process, it was announced that HSBC UK had agreed to acquire Silicon Valley Bank's UK subsidiary for £1 in a rescue deal, at no cost to the taxpayer and with depositors fully protected. The subsidiary was renamed HSBC Innovation Bank Limited and trades under the HSBC Innovation Banking brand.