HSBC Bank Singapore
HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services corporations in the world. Our global businesses, Wealth and Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Global Banking & Markets, serve approximately 40 million customers. In Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, North America, and Latin America, our network encompasses 64 nations and territories.
Our mission statement explains why we exist: “To open up a world of possibilities.” We’re here to help our clients discover new possibilities by using our unique knowledge, skills, breadth, and viewpoints. We bring together the people, ideas, and money that fuel advancement and growth, assisting in the creation of a better future for our customers, employees, investors, communities, and the planet we all share.
Around 187,000 stockholders in 128 countries and territories own shares in HSBC Holdings plc, which is listed on the London, Hong Kong, New York, and Bermuda stock markets.
HSBC is based in Singapore.
Retail banking and wealth management; commercial, investment, and private banking; insurance; forfaiting and trustee services; securities and capital markets services are among the banking and financial services offered by HSBC in Singapore.
HSBC was one of the first banks to open in Singapore and is now a major participant in the financial services industry, servicing international enterprises, local businesses, private banking clients, institutional and retail consumers. HSBC Singapore relocated to its new headquarters in Marina Bay Financial Centre in 2020, after more than 140 years at its old Collyer Quay location, where it opened its first branch. HSBC Singapore offers a significant retail network at major locations around the island, including HSBC Jade and Premier Centres as well as self-service terminals.
Establishment
In 1877, HSBC launched its first branch in Singapore. By this time, Singapore’s port had become the busiest trade centre between Calcutta and Hong Kong. Prior to opening an HSBC branch, the bank had been doing business in Singapore through an agency since 1865. HSBC Singapore was one of the first members of the local chamber of commerce shortly after it opened.
Business starts early in the morning.
HSBC The providing of loans to Chinese merchants, as well as the financing of import, export, and entrepot commerce, were the early businesses of Singapore (where goods are imported and stored for re-exporting). MacLaine Fraser & Co, Straits Insurance Company, and Singapore Insurance Company were among the first clients. The branch applied for the Singapore Government account in 1879. By 1884, it had deposited silver in half of the government’s accounts.
Banknotes are issued.
From 1881 until 1909, the Singapore office held the authority to print banknotes. Local merchants regarded the notes as a reliable and safe medium of exchange, and they played an important role in Singapore’s economic growth. Each banknote denomination was translated into English, Chinese, Malay, Arabic, Tamil, and Gujarati to represent Singapore’s cosmopolitan character.
The very first office
After purchasing the land in 1890, the bank constructed its original Singapore headquarters at Collyer Quay in 1892, with the help of architectural firm Swan and MacLaren. The bank would use the building for the following 26 years, and the property has since been home to HSBC’s Singapore headquarters.
The age of rubber
HSBC The financing of rubber and tin was Singapore’s principal industry in the early twentieth century. From 1911 through 1922, Singapore branch manager Sir John Peter convinced key rubber merchants to establish HSBC accounts. Rubber accounted for 35% of Singapore’s overall export trade by 1918. HSBC pioneered rubber financing and was one of the first banks to lend to the Lee Rubber Group (now Lee Group).
The postwar era
After WWII, HSBC played a critical role in the restoration and rehabilitation of Singapore’s economy. It handled 35% of Singapore’s international and trade exchange operations by 1948.
Branches are being added to the network.
The Singapore branch network grew in the postwar era to assist Singapore’s industrial growth as well as to meet the burgeoning suburban population’s need for more sophisticated banking services. At the 1950s and 1960s, the bank established branches in Orchard Road, Tanglin, Beach Road, Queenstown, Jurong, Bukit Panjang, and Serangoon.
Mercantile Bank is being purchased.
The Mercantile Bank of India, through which HSBC got its start in Singapore, was founded in 1856. The Mercantile Bank was purchased by HSBC in 1959. The Mercantile Bank had 35 branches when the purchase was finalized, with a particularly strong presence in the Indian subcontinent. HSBC became one of the largest foreign financial institutions in East Asia as a result of this acquisition.
Business diversification
The principal activity of the Singapore branch in the 1960s and early 1970s was the financing of large-scale imports and exports, such as rubber, palm, and pineapples. The company has expanded into businesses such as hire buy, leasing, warehousing, property development, computer services, and discount houses.
Banking services innovation
HSBC was also at the forefront of technology advancements in Singapore throughout the 1970s. In 1971, it presented the city’s first computerized accounting system, followed a year later by the city’s first automated cash dispenser. Customers were given more simple options to do transactions as a result of these competing offerings.
