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Basically says they’re bailing out of the US consumer market to focus on high net worth individuals and accounts. Basically the “1%”. Executives are quoted, im

Basically says they’re bailing out of the US consumer market to focus on high net worth individuals and accounts. Basically the “1%”. Executives are quoted, implying that the reason is due to their inability to compete in that market, but I wonder if that’s really why. I’m thinking that with US debt being so high (both consumers and the federal government), millions of job openings going unfilled, an end to eviction moratoriums, zero action on increasing minimum wage and all the other pandemic mess, that they’re seeing a dismal future for the US economy as consumers wind up with essentially zero discretionary income to spend, a government that won’t do anything about it, and another possible Great Recession triggered again by foreclosures on a housing market that’s currently overpriced. Add our mounting inflation to the mix and things look pretty dark. My guess it’s that’s what’s really driving things here. Sadly it won’t be much better anywhere else, and some places it’ll get even worse. Man, fuck this pandemic.

Proven 5y ago
> Executives are quoted, implying that the reason is due to their inability to compete in that market, but I wonder if that’s really why. The US is descending into socialism. Most people think the goverment should protect them (HN favorites: whining about minimum wage and employment status of Uber's part-timers), everyone wants to tax and regulate top companies in any sector (just look at the unmasked AOC in her redistributionist dress), etc. If I were a foreign bank I'd leave retail as well.
NicoJuicy 5y ago
A lot of banks are exiting retail saving accounts. Here's an example of a big bank in the Netherlands ( in dutch): https://www.banken.nl/nieuws/23010/ing-adviseert-spaarders-om-bij-concurrentie-te-gaan-shoppen https://www.banken.nl/nieuws/23010/ing-adviseert-spaarders-o...
- m3nu 5y ago
  Right. And HSBC in particular has been downsizing outside of Asia and core markets for years now. So this move isn’t unexpected and not related to economic prospects.
JohnJamesRambo 5y ago
I think you nailed it. The 1% will sail through the recession and just buy all the poor people’s stuff at pennies on the dollar. Poor people don’t have any buffer, all their money goes to bills already. If HSBC saw any money there, they would not be exiting.
humanlion87 5y ago
I don't think the plan to exit the US consumer market was because of the pandemic. I remember there had been talks of exiting the US market even in 2019 ( random article I pulled up after a google search -https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/hsbc-warns-of-restructuring-pain/article29812569.ece https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/hsbc-... ). I think their US banking operations had been performing badly for some time now. Maybe the pandemic could have accelerated things.
kylehotchkiss 5y ago
They hardly wanted to deal with US customers before the pandemic. Plus they’ve been busted for fraud or money laundering, had to pay giant fines, and didn’t have the most positive brand recognition after that in US market. US cards have been remarkably well accepted globally for a long time now, likely because the 3 big card processors are American, and American’s general need for banking abroad is probably covered by the bank they already have.
lmm 5y ago
Recessions are when retail banks are most in demand, I don't think that's their reason for exiting. They got massive fines and dragged in the press for the crime of doing money transfers to and from Mexico; they're heavily pressured by the government to provide international transfers and then blamed as soon as one of those transfers goes to someone bad. They've probably reached a point where the only winning move is not to play.
flomo 5y ago
Looking at San Francisco, HSBC only has a handful of retail locations, seems like they were focusing on the Chinese-American market. (They also have a building on Montgomery Bank Row, assume they're keeping that for their tooty customers.) Not sure if this the soapbox you really want to stand on.

Proven 5y ago

> Executives are quoted, implying that the reason is due to their inability to compete in that market, but I wonder if that’s really why. The US is descending into socialism. Most people think the goverment should protect them (HN favorites: whining about minimum wage and employment status of Uber's part-timers), everyone wants to tax and regulate top companies in any sector (just look at the unmasked AOC in her redistributionist dress), etc. If I were a foreign bank I'd leave retail as well.

NicoJuicy 5y ago

A lot of banks are exiting retail saving accounts. Here's an example of a big bank in the Netherlands ( in dutch): https://www.banken.nl/nieuws/23010/ing-adviseert-spaarders-om-bij-concurrentie-te-gaan-shoppen https://www.banken.nl/nieuws/23010/ing-adviseert-spaarders-o...

m3nu 5y ago
Right. And HSBC in particular has been downsizing outside of Asia and core markets for years now. So this move isn’t unexpected and not related to economic prospects.

JohnJamesRambo 5y ago

I think you nailed it. The 1% will sail through the recession and just buy all the poor people’s stuff at pennies on the dollar. Poor people don’t have any buffer, all their money goes to bills already. If HSBC saw any money there, they would not be exiting.

humanlion87 5y ago

I don't think the plan to exit the US consumer market was because of the pandemic. I remember there had been talks of exiting the US market even in 2019 ( random article I pulled up after a google search -https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/hsbc-warns-of-restructuring-pain/article29812569.ece https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/money-and-banking/hsbc-... ). I think their US banking operations had been performing badly for some time now. Maybe the pandemic could have accelerated things.

kylehotchkiss 5y ago

They hardly wanted to deal with US customers before the pandemic. Plus they’ve been busted for fraud or money laundering, had to pay giant fines, and didn’t have the most positive brand recognition after that in US market. US cards have been remarkably well accepted globally for a long time now, likely because the 3 big card processors are American, and American’s general need for banking abroad is probably covered by the bank they already have.

lmm 5y ago

Recessions are when retail banks are most in demand, I don't think that's their reason for exiting. They got massive fines and dragged in the press for the crime of doing money transfers to and from Mexico; they're heavily pressured by the government to provide international transfers and then blamed as soon as one of those transfers goes to someone bad. They've probably reached a point where the only winning move is not to play.

flomo 5y ago

Looking at San Francisco, HSBC only has a handful of retail locations, seems like they were focusing on the Chinese-American market. (They also have a building on Montgomery Bank Row, assume they're keeping that for their tooty customers.) Not sure if this the soapbox you really want to stand on.