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Our objectives
We are dedicated in community investment through charity, volunteer services, etc., to enable younger generations to reach their full potential by developing their future skills and offering financial literacy. Hang Seng as well emphasises customer centricity and employee well-being to ensure corporate sustainability.
Long-term social impact
Hang Seng has been supporting the development of table tennis in Hong Kong for the past 30 years. In addition to nurturing 110 past and present members of the Hong Kong Table Tennis Team and Youth Squad Team, including 5 of the 6 core players of the Hong Kong Table Tennis Team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Hang Seng Table Tennis Academy has provided table tennis training for over 65,000 students and reached close to 390,000 beneficiaries through more than 7,500 activities since its establishment in 2001.
Key figures
Employee advocacy: 71% in Employee Engagement Index (as of first half of 2021)
ESG awareness: total 61 ESG topics in 143 postings to all staff (as of September 2021)
Gender diversity: 45% of Board of Directors and 50% of Executive Committee members are female (as of September 2021)
Highlights
Community investment
As a home-grown financial institution, Hang Seng shares the drive, determination and dreams of the people of Hong Kong and strives to build a prosperous and sustainable future for the city. The aspirations and attitudes of young people play a crucial role in successfully achieving long-term sustainability goals. This is why Hang Seng’s approach to community investment places a strong emphasis on engaging Hong Kong’s young people and empowering them with the skills, knowledge and self-esteem that they need to thrive.
Hang Seng’s community investment strategy is designed around four pillars:
- Future skills
- Promoting sustainable finance and financial literacy
- Addressing climate change
- Caring for the community
During 2020, we invested more than HKD30 million in our community investment programmes, bringing the total amount invested in the past 10 years to HKD282 million.
We collaborated with local NGOs to design and deliver 12 community investment programmes in 2020, which supported and assisted about 40,000 direct beneficiaries. We also made contributions to The Community Chest of Hong Kong which helped reach another 2.5 million people.
We invested non-financial resources including volunteer time, professional expertise and practical support to further enhance the lasting social and environmental impact of these programmes. Between volunteer time and professional expertise, we contributed close to 11,000 hours in various charitable initiatives during 2020.
For details of community investment initiatives, please refer to our latest ESG Report.
Four pillars
Future Skills
Young people play a significant role in the future development of society. We continue to put emphasis on providing future-skills learning opportunities for Hong Kong’s young people to help strengthen their ability to adapt and thrive in a fast-changing environment . This approach aligns with our business strategy of placing focus on supporting younger generations, who are integral to driving greater sustainability.
Hang Seng Youth Career Planning Scheme
Hang Seng - HKFWS Youth Mediation Scheme
Hang Seng Character Master Programme
Hang Seng – YMCA Balloon Twisting Programme for Special Educational Needs Students
Hang Seng Academic Assistance Programme
Hang Seng - Hong Kong Sports Institute "Community in Action"
Promoting sustainable finance and financial literacy
As one of the Hong Kong’s leading banks, promoting sustainable finance and financial literacy aligns with our core banking focus. We are eager to provide young people and their families with the tools and knowledge to manage their day-to-day finances and enhance their future financial security.
Addressing climate change
Hang Seng has been an advocate of environmental sustainability for many years. Our commitment to climate action is demonstrated through our support for initiatives such as the Hang Seng Yunnan Low-Carbon Village programme and we will continue to step up efforts in addressing climate change in Hong Kong.
Caring for the community
Hang Seng Bank has a rich tradition of acting to fulfil its social commitments as a responsible corporate citizen. We are proud of our long-term contributions to the community and of our active participation in a variety of social services initiatives to assist disadvantaged groups in our society.
Volunteer services
As a responsible corporate citizen, Hang Seng encourages its staff to contribute to civic well-being through volunteering.
Our staff volunteers take part in different community activities that focus on the social well-being of vulnerable groups and environmental issues. Each staff member is entitled to two days of volunteer leave every year.
Volunteering not only benefits the community – it inspires and energises colleagues and promotes greater camaraderie and bonding among team members and across the Bank.
We also leverage our core strengths and expertise to help people from different backgrounds make informed decisions by helping them to improve their financial literacy. Staff are encouraged to share their professional skills and knowledge pro bono at financial education and entrepreneurial workshops for young people and the wider community. In some cases, training is provided for our volunteers in order to equip them with new knowledge and experience that will support their activities to encourage community development and social well-being.
Overview
Our customer-centric service puts strong emphasis on building long-term relationships. Since 1933, our commitment to core values – professionalism, passion, and a prudent but progressive approach – has earned us the trust and loyalty of our customers.
Customer privacy
Ensuring the privacy of our customers’ personal information and other data is critical. It maintains our reputation for good governance and bolsters the trust that underpins lasting business relationships.
- As our customers, you are notified about our collection and use of personal data, the classes of transferees, classes of marketing subjects, their data access and their right to correct personal data.
- Customers can easily access Hang Seng’s Privacy Policy, Notice to Customers and Other Individuals relating to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, and Cookies Policy on our website.
- In 2020, we hosted an online seminar to enhance our staff’s understanding of legal and regulatory issues relating to direct marketing.
Customer experience
Enhancing branch service
- To minimise waiting time at branches, eAppointment for Account Opening and eTicketing for Counter Services have been introduced. These services improve the customer experience, and complement our efforts to combat COVID-19 by reducing queues and supporting social distancing.
Improving the online banking experience
- In 2020, we introduced DigiLife, a seamless digital experience for HASE life insurance and general insurance policy holders. Available online and via our Hang Seng Mobile App, it features an at-a-glance policy summary and details
- We extended services through HARO, our AI-powered personal e-Banking chatbot HARO service was extended to WhatsApp in 2020
- We also extended functions through BERI, our business e-Banking chatbot, to allow customers to check balances, view account balance trends, perform FX-related transactions, and live-chat with contact centre agents
- As of December 2020, we had more than 2.2 million personal e-Banking customers
Offering accessible financial solutions
- In 2020, we launched SimplyFund: a low-cost and easy-to-use investment fund service, specifically for young or novice investors. It features a wealth of useful knowledge about the basics of investment funds, and customers can invest in the global, Chinese and Hong Kong markets simply and swiftly for just HK$ 1.
Building financial literacy
- We strive to nurture young people’s saving habits and help them to plan their finances for the future. The newly launched Savings Planner service in Hang Seng Mobile App allows users to keep track of their expenses effortlessly, with no data exposure to third parties.
Accessible banking services for all
- We adopt a barrier-free approach for all new branches and self-service outlets. Social Caring Counters at 22 of our branches provide priority service to the elderly, the disabled and other customers in need
- As part of our partnership with Hong Kong Seeing Eye Dog Services (HKSEDS), visually impaired customers can bring guide dogs into the banking halls of our branches. Some of our branches are HKSEDS training sites
- We increased the number of voice-navigable ATMs for visually impaired customers to 273 in 2020. We also provide audible security tokens for visually impaired customers’ e-Banking
- Our 2 mobile branches provide access for the elderly and people living in remote areas
Overview
Our staff are the engine of our success and the primary bridge between our business and the local community. We reward them with competitive compensation and benefits packages, and engage them with supportive and flexible working conditions. Our training and development programmes cultivate professionals who contribute to our success and who understand sustainability in practice.
Equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion
- Of our senior leaders, 41% are women. This is well above the HSBC Group’s diversity target of 30% of senior roles being filled by women in 2020. Of our employees in Hong Kong, 57% are women.
- All staff receive training on diversity, inclusion, equal opportunities and human rights issues that are relevant to our operations. This is also part of our New Joiners Induction Programme. In 2020, we provided our employees in Hong Kong with approximately 7,000 hours of such training.
Training and skills development
We invest in training and development to build and sustain a professional, ethical team that contributes to the success of the Bank. We commit to deploying staff with sufficient skills, knowledge, professional qualifications, experience and soundness of judgement for the responsible discharge of their duties.
To empower our staff to develop future skills, we launched the CareerWise programme in 2020. Its features include:
- Rock Your Profile: workshops facilitate personal branding through LinkedIn® professional networking service profiles, and strengthen the Bank’s branding in the market, to attract talent
- Career KOL: external and internal key opinion leaders share career stories, reflections on their journeys and reality checks
- Talks-series Video: via video, different departments showcase their teams and personalities, and share interesting glimpses of wide-ranging roles, to help staff navigate development opportunities within the Bank
- Future Skills: representatives of different businesses and functions act as influencers, encouraging staff to explore their potential
Employee well-being
Employees who enjoy a good work-life balance are better equipped to perform well. Our staff are going through a variety work-life challenges at different stages of their lives. Therefore, we offer the flexibility to work from home, work part-time or take sabbatical leave, so they can fulfil their responsibilities as parents or caregivers.
Supporting flexible working
- We have established a formal policy to provide flexibility for employees to work from home or other Hang Seng offices
Promoting health and wellness
- Our Employee Assistance Programme provides access to professional counsellors. This service – available 24 hours a day, seven days a week – is free and confidential
- Our Back to Healthy Lifestyle programme offers online well-being workshops. For example, many of our employees are parents, so we hosted workshops to share tips for managing children’s emotional health
- In September 2020, we launched Workout Month with a comprehensive exercise schedule and live video guidance to keep staff active. Having received much positive feedback, we have since turned the event into regular online exercise classes
Occupational Health and Safety
We uphold high standards of Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S). We develop our OH&S policy and management framework by engaging employees at all levels via committees, forums and working groups.
In 2020, we successfully upgraded our OHSAS 18001-certified OH&S management system to the latest ISO 45001 standards. This is designed to reduce the exposure of staff, contractors and customers to health and safety risks associated with our business.
COVID-19 created a raft of challenges for our people and business. Despite these, we upheld our commitment to support our staff, our customers and our community:
- We established guidelines on working from home, split site operations, social distancing and restrictions on moving from one office to another
- We arranged frequent workplace cleaning and offered protective gear such as masks and screens on counters to protect our frontline staff at branches and back-end operational staff who continued to work on-site
- COVID-19 enquiries raised by employees were handled by a dedicated HR team, to ensure they were answered in a timely and consistent manner
- We responded immediately to suspected and actual infection cases by closing and disinfecting workplaces, and requiring our staff to conduct virus testing, to trace close contacts and to implement precautionary self-quarantine. Branches with potential cases were swiftly closed for disinfection
Progress update
3rd quarter of 2021:
- Offered a HKD3.2 million cash prize to the Hong Kong Olympic table tennis team
- Received the 4th Top Donor Award presented by the Community Chest of Hong Kong
- Completed 125.5 hours of voluntary services as of September 2021
- Conducted ESG Forum together with The Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies
- Organised 3 ESG webinars for staff with a total of 269 participants
- Held an internal ESG Business Challenge for staff to contribute ideas on green products
2nd quarter of 2021:
- 8 Bite-Size ESG Learning Video Series were produced to help raise ESG awareness with both staff and general public
- Launched the 2nd phase of Hang Seng Academic Assistance Programme (HSAAP)
- Launched Money Master Financial Education Programme
- Launched Hang Seng Low Carbon Future - SolarCare Programme
- Recognised by the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong with our 10th consecutive Junzi Corporation Award
1st quarter of 2021:
- 3 eLearning modules about sustainability were released to all staff