Staff Reporter | 09 Jul, 2008
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) has launched a product for small businesses - HSBC direct for business - in India after it met with success in the UK and Northern Ireland.

The new product will take care of the daily banking needs from anywhere via Internet, telephone and self-service machines.

HSBC chief executive officer and country head Naina Lal Kidwai said, "We are constrained by limited branch network in India. But technology is helping us to be right there with customers."

Till a few years ago, the bank was not engaged in the small and enterprises (SME) business, she said. But now the bank is a significant player in the SME segment and the new product is targeted at them, she added.

The bank treats any company with less than Rs 50-crore turnover as an SME, while anyone with less than Rs 4-crore turnover falls under the category of micro-sme. She, however, observed that, "no business is too small for us."

HSBC managing director Puneet Chaddha said he expected a lot of customers would sign up for the product. It is an integrated offering and no other bank offers this type of product, he added.

There is a new generation of business customers who are technologically savvy and the new product is designed for them, he added.

India is the third country where the bank has launched the product.

High interest rates do not necessarily result in defaults by borrowers. Default is linked to the attitude of the person, Kidwai said.

She was speaking in response to queries whether the recent hike in interest rates which has resulted in higher monthly outgo for home loan borrowers could lead to higher defaults.

Kidwai said the high interest regime was a recent phenomenon but credit defaults had been there for long.