HSBC’s Yvonne Yiu says the future of payments is instant

She credits her propensity to ask questions for becoming one of HSBC’s top leaders.

HSBC Holdings Plc’s Yvonne Yiu thinks the future of payments is undeniably digital and real time, and the tech is already revolutionising both consumer and business transactions both in terms of convenience and efficiency.

Digital solutions allow HSBC clients to move money around the world 24/7, the British lender’s Head of Global Payments Solutions, Greater China told Asian Banking & Finance.

And this is why HSBC, which has been developing and deploying some of the industry's most advanced tech to make banking easier and more secure, is No. 1 in Asia’s cash management business, Yiu said.

She thinks it won’t take long before it takes the top spot globally.

“This is why we are investing in real-time payment infrastructure capabilities that enable them to move money on a real-time basis as quickly as possible,” said Yiu, who is also a Board of Director at the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

“We want to be the first to support our customers in their transformation agenda,” she said via Zoom. “We are investing in the payment infrastructure.”

HSBC wants to be the leading banking network for companies looking to expand overseas, she added.

Yiu, who started her career in the payment business 25 years ago, credits her propensity to ask questions for becoming one of HSBC’s top leaders.

“I started to challenge our product colleagues — why can’t we do this and that? Eventually, they just moved me to [the product team]. “‘Why don’t you just figure out how you can resolve the problem for the client?’” she recalled, while laughing.

Her journey involved working with the regional receivable product team, then looking after the bank’s business management team, then a role in international markets. 

As head of HSBC’s cash management franchise in Greater China, Yiu is responsible for product design and solutions, and selling these to the client.

These days, she is trying to build a cash management corridor for the outbound transactions of Chinese companies through Hong Kong.

In 2021, Yiu was named a director at SWIFT, a messaging network that connects 11,000 financial institutions worldwide to send and receive financial information. She works with other directors in coming up with ideas to develop the network further.

Having women leaders inspires women bankers and shows them that they no longer have to break through the glass ceiling. This year, HSBC seeks to increase the share of women among senior leaders to 35% from 34.6% last year. 

In Hong Kong, HSBC’s major businesses are headed by women — HSBC Hong Kong CEO Luanne Lim, affiliate Hang Seng Bank CEO Diana Cesar, and Maggie Ng, HSBC Hong Kong head of Wealth and Personal Banking.

“We have a resource group at the global level put together to focus on talking about these gender-specific female leadership agendas and inviting external parties to come in to share the perspective with our colleagues,” Yiu said.

The bank also has an accelerated female leadership program for up-and-coming women bankers. Women employees likewise get trained as they progress to senior positions, she added.

Building a relaxed working environment is also part of supporting bankers’ career growth, not just for women bankers but for all future leaders, Yiu said. 

It could be as simple as allowing relaxed dress codes, like letting bankers wear jeans to the office. This is a departure from the past, when bankers had to wear suits and ties, she pointed out.

Yiu said there would always be biases, though there has been a shift after COVID-19 and amidst the rise of financial technology companies, where the norm is less formal work.