Our Relationships with Customers and Suppliers

• Serving Our Customers
• Understanding Customer Needs
• Access
• Supporting Local Business
• Helping Customers with Financial Challenges
• Service Environment
• Managing Our Suppliers

Serving Our Customers

Our customers provide both inspiration and incentive for everything we do. As an award-winning financial institution in Greater China, establishing long-term partnerships by providing premium service is one of our key competitive strengths and central to our business success.

Understanding Customer Needs

The best way to serve customers is to learn more about their needs. We provide a variety of channels – including phone hotlines, customer suggestion forms and our website – through which customers can voice their opinions or offer suggestions.

We use a number of proactive methods to gather information on customer satisfaction, including focus groups and surveys. We monitor service performance of critical processes and customer interactions, and analyse relevant data to identify any positive or negative trends in customer opinion, compliments or complaints. Regular benchmarking exercises help ensure that service standards continue to meet customer needs and expectations.

Service Pledge
Our internal procedure manual contains clearly established service pledges and procedures to ensure that all customer comments are handled in a timely and fair manner. 

Handling Customer Feedback
Business units, frontline staff and our quality assurance (QA) department all take responsibility for receiving customer feedback.

Our QA department, which is an independent unit, handles customer comments and assists business units in resolving complaints.

All customer complaints are handled according to the guidelines and service pledge contained in our internal procedure manual, helping to ensure that any customer dissatisfaction is dealt with efficiently and effectively. For example, upon receiving a complaint, the QA department will respond before the close of business on the following working day. Should the matter require further investigation, we endeavour to provide a full reply to the customer within 30 days. Our complaint handling policy complies with guidelines issued by relevant regulatory bodies.

All complaints are logged and investigated. Trend analysis is used to identify any systemic issues that may require remedial action. Line management and QA staff will take all necessary steps to address all issues raised.

Senior management regularly review reports on customer suggestions, compliments and complaints. Lessons learnt from customer feedback are communicated to all staff with a view to improving customer service and encouraging best practice.

Access

Technology plays an important role in our efforts to offer customers a fast, safe and convenient service. We continue to develop phone and online banking channels that offer customers greater flexibility over how and when they manage their wealth.

In December 2008, online and automated machine channels accounted for 76.7 per cent of all customer transactions, up 1.5 percentage points compared with a year earlier.

At the end of 2008, we had over 870,000 Personal e-Banking customers, an increase of 14 per cent. Business e-Banking customers were up 26.5 per cent at nearly 65,000.

We improved the efficiency of our Personal e-Banking online securities trading service and streamlined processing for online securities and unit trust subscriptions under monthly investment plans. With increased interest in foreign exchange and gold markets, we expanded related trading services to our mobile phone platform.

We continued to extend our network of automated channels, implementing offsite deployment of more cash and cheque deposit machines at MTR stations and prime commercial locations.

Specifically designed for tertiary students, our Green Banking account offers convenient and secure online banking and electronic payment services.

As part of our commitment to sustainability, we extended our e-InvestAdvice service – under which customers can save paper resources by opting to receive electronic versions of certain bank documents – to cover foreign exchange and gold margin trading advice.

Technological enhancements helped us better support business customers through improved customer relationship management and shorter processing times for remittances and applications. We offered advice to prospective owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under a new ‘Business Start-up Corner’ section on our website.

In August 2008, we strengthened our corporate wealth management proposition with the introduction of online securities trading services. Year on year, the number of business banking transactions completed via the internet increased by 27.8 per cent. 

Banking for Everyone
We believe that age and/or income should not be a barrier to enjoying quality banking services. We offer various reduced or no fee banking services to young people under 18, students, persons aged over 65 and recipients of government disability allowances.

We are working to improve special-needs access to banking services. Our website is designed with readability and ease of navigation as primary concerns. We have over 121 outlets with wheelchair access, including street-level branches, MTR branches and standalone automated banking centres.

Transparency and Accountability
We are committed to providing clear, transparent and balanced information to our customers. Product features, terms and conditions, and any associated risks are clearly communicated to ensure customers can make an informed decision.

Where relevant, we present several product options so that customers can select the solution that best suits their requirements. It is our policy to sell products and services based on customers’ specific needs.

Supporting Local Business

Building strong partnerships with SMEs is one of our key areas of focus. By working with these businesses, we support the local economy and can help create new employment opportunities and wealth.

We offer a wide range of products tailored specifically for SME customers and continue to enhance service delivery through better use of technology and improved relationship management.

We are part of the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme and the Special Loan Guarantee Scheme sponsored by the Hong Kong government, which help SMEs acquire machinery and equipment as well as meet their working capital needs.

We regularly run seminars for SME customers in collaboration with external parties or associations on topics related to financial management and taxation, to help improve financial literacy and increase awareness of relevant financial management tools.

Our commitment to supporting SME business earned us our third consecutive win at the 2008 ‘SME’s Best Partner Awards’ organised by the Hong Kong Chamber of Small and Medium Business.

Helping Customers with Financial Challenges

We understand that there may be times when a business customer needs help to deal with a difficult financial situation. We work closely with customers in difficulties focusing on assessment and advisory services that aim to help them get back on track.

We help business customers to make a realistic assessment of their current position, from which we will determine the best course of action. This may involve rescheduling a debt based on new cash flow projections, the continuation of revolving facilities to keep businesses afloat during a tough period or providing a grace period to give the customer time to work out and execute a longer term recovery strategy.

Similarly, our primary objective when working with personal customers in financial distress is to find a win-win solution. Our internal guidelines are based on the 'Hong Kong Approach to Consumer Debt Difficulties' issued by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. We have a dedicated unit for handling debt relief plans which will review the circumstances surrounding each case with the individual(s) involved. Where a genuine difficulty exists, we aim to find possible solutions that may range from extending a repayment schedule to offering partial relief.

Service Environment

We strive to ensure that all our customers and staff enjoy a safe and healthy environment at our outlets and offices. A major component of this, particularly in Hong Kong's humid climate, is managing indoor air quality (IAQ) and ventilation systems.

To ensure that the IAQ at our branches and offices meets the 'Excellent/Good Level' established in the 'Guidance Notes on the Management of IAQ for Offices and Public Place' issued by  the Environmental Protection Department, we regularly conduct IAQ measurements and, if necessary, take steps to adjust the indoor environment.

Operation and maintenance of our mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning systems are carried out by trained personnel to ensure that they are operating efficiently and safely.

Our standard temperature set point in our offices and outlets is 24.5 °C, striking a good balance between our desire to reduce our consumption of energy and provide a pleasant environment for customers and staff.

Our focus on providing a healthy banking environment also includes branch construction and renovation projects. Our selection of building and furnishing materials is not just driven by cost and aesthetics but also by ergonomics and composition and durability.

We provide safety training and conduct periodic emergency evacuation drills to ensure that our staff can efficiently and effectively identify, eliminate and/or mitigate any potential risk to customers and staff posed fire or similar emergency situations. We have appointed Fire Marshalls in all our premises and also arranged for certain staff to acquire Qualified First Aider status for the benefit of their colleagues and customers in the event of a medical emergency or accident.

Managing Our Suppliers

All our procurement is done on a competitive basis and we deal with suppliers in a transparent and fair way. We have strict procedures governing staff conduct when handling procurement matters.

Our procurement policy governs internal control of operating and capital expenditures, covering all purchases and expenditure by the Bank. The policy aims to support operational efficiency, segregation of duties and the requirement to make the ‘best buy’ as well as ensure transparency throughout the entire procurement process.

We make use of e-auction and e-procurement systems to reduce paper consumption and lead times as well as enhance supplier control and information management.

We have clear policies and guidelines for selecting contractors to ensure they can provide services in full compliance with our requirements. Our tender and agreement documents ask suppliers to complete a questionnaire covering environmental issues such as whether they have an established environmental management system and/or ISO accreditation, which is assessed as part of the tender process.

All potential new suppliers must undergo an evaluation which includes consideration of environmental performance, health and safety, and equal opportunities. If necessary, we will arrange a site visit.

We encourage our suppliers and contractors to use or offer environmentally friendlier or recycled products whenever possible.

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