Francesca McDonagh, HSBC's Regional Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management for the Middle East and North Africa, said there are no plans to exit the Egyptian market. The bank highly depends on the Egyptian market especially in marketing its retail banking and wealth management services, McDonagh added. During the media roundtable held at HSBC's headquarters in Cairo, McDonagh added that the bank has a future expansion strategy in Egypt in sectors of retail banking and wealth management services. HSBC has 100 branches in Egypt which enable it to offer all banking services which cater to the needs of its customers. McDonagh revealed that the bank targets having more branches in the upcoming period in order to allure new segment of customers and offer better banking services. Mobile Banking Service License: McDonagh announced that HSBC has obtained license from Egypt's Central Bank (CBE) so as to launch “Mobile Banking" service in Egypt. She added that the service is currently provided for its staff only as the bank prefers to have the service on trial till its official launch by the beginning of October. In this regard, McDonagh said the mobile banking service is a way to show HSBC's appetite for investing in Egypt. The service will allow smart phones users to access their accounts wherever they are. She added that the service will start with balance quarries but over the time it will be upgraded to include many more elements as per the regulations of the Central Bank. HSBC's New Variable Loan: Moreover, McDonagh noted that HSBC has issued Variable Loan, a new of its kind with various terms of 5 years maximum. HSBC's new Loan enjoys different returns every 3 months in accordance with the interest rates which the market defines. Accordingly, the client would benefit from high interest rates of the banks' Variable Loans. HSBC Awaits CBE's Approvals To Launch Islamic Banking Service: McDonagh noted that HSBC is willing to provide the Islamic banking service in Egypt since the banks owns a wide expertise in this sector through its Islamic unit HSBC Amanah. HSBC awaits CBE's approvals so as to launch the Islamic banking service. HSBC's Compliance to International Supervisory & Disclosure Standards: McDonagh said HSBC's Retail Banking and Wealth Management Units work in compliance with the international supervisory and disclosure standards. HSBC had earlier admitted that in the past it failed to meet the compliance standards that regulators and customers expected, leading to money-laundering incidents, but it promised to strengthen its money-laundering controls, she affirmed. HSBC has injected large investments in order to be able to comply with the international standards and avert possible mistakes in the future. HSBC adopted a centralized strategy in this matter in order to achieve such aim, McDonagh added.
