Bank on people, not just tech— HSBC banker

Developing tech and talent go hand-in-hand, a senior HSBC banker said.

Banks are cautioned from getting blinded by the latest emerging tech and are instead called to focus on developing their front and back offices and developing the right talent, an HSBC banker told attendees of the 2024 edition of the Asian Banking & Finance and Insurance Asia Summit in Singapore.

“You can’t just have a shiny, beautiful front end on an app if you haven’t thought through the end-to-end journey. And if you haven’t thought through the end-to-end journey, you will never be able to deliver the best-in-class client experience,” Ashmita Acharya, head of Wealth and Personal Banking in Singapore, HSBC, said in her speaking session, where she discussed how to empower people and enhance processes.

Amidst discussions of emerging technologies and starry-eyed optimism on the opportunities they present, Acharya sounded caution.

“Every day, there will be new technology, new digital tools, new data, or something new altogether. It’s very difficult to keep pace with what's happening out there. In that process, we keep forgetting to get our backend and our front-to-back approach right,” Acharya said.

Acharya noted the importance of having that front-to-back approach in making a scalable business model. 

This process should take into account the people in the business— who, despite the rise of generative AI and automated processes, will never go away.

“When we talk about hyper-personalization, how often are people only consuming information through a digital channel? It's not happening that way. They're still looking for that hybrid engagement. They're still looking for the human touch to deliver that information in the right manner,” Acharya said. 

Acharya emphasized the need to deliver “different versions of client service” in order to deliver information to all clients in a way that takes into account their unique needs.

Part of recognizing clients’ changing needs is also realizing that talent requirements and expectations have transformed.

“Today's talent is not yesterday's talent. When I joined banking 24 years ago, we joined banking because banking made a lot of money. But that's not the reason people join banking now. People look at banking in a very different way,” Acharya said. 

“Back then, financial services paid a lot more. Now, Gen Zs, the millennials, their motivation is very different. Getting young talent to be a banker, to be a private banker, is very different. You can't get them that excited, so you need to look at how we bring people in, how do we nurture talent?,” she added.

For their part HSBC has made programs targeting junior talent— with the realization that yesterday’s product manager is not the product manager of tomorrow. 

For example, the current generation may not need a lot of technical expertise that an AI can solve better. Instead, the skills they need are more on understanding how to leverage AI in their work and understanding sustainability.

“We need to find avenues for people not to get bogged down by the experience aspect, but really look at their attitude and how we can groom talent throughout their life journey. The more well-rounded the talent, the better they are at managing the future,” she added.