Future of HSBC Holdings
CATEGORIES
- Asset Performance
- Innovation assets and pipeline
- Disruption vulnerability
- Company headlines
- Company’s future prospects
DATA ACCESS
HSBC Holdings PLC is a Chinese-British financial and banking services holding company that operates globally. It is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the seventh biggest bank in the world by total assets and the biggest in Europe as of December 2016. Founded by The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in 1991 in its present form in London to act as a new group holding company. The initial beginning of the bank lies mainly in Hong Kong and to a lesser extent in Shanghai, where branches were first opened in 1865. The HSBC name came from the initials of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. The company was first formally incorporated in 1866. The company continues to see both the Hong Kong and the United Kingdom as its "home markets." HSBC has offices across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America and South America, and around 37 million clients.
Innovation assets and Pipeline
All company data collected from its 2016 annual report and other public sources. The accuracy of this data and the conclusions derived from them depend on this publicly accessible data. If a data point listed above is discovered to be inaccurate, Quantumrun will make the necessary corrections to this live page.
DISRUPTION VULNERABILITY
Belonging to the financial sector means this company will be affected directly and indirectly by a number of disruptive opportunities and challenges over the coming decades. While described in detail within Quantumrun’s special reports, these disruptive trends can be summarized along the following broad points:
*First off, the shrinking cost and increasing computational capacity of artificial intelligence systems will lead to its greater use across a number of applications within the financial world—from AI trading, wealth management, accounting, financial forensics, and more. All regimented or codified tasks and professions will see greater automation, leading to dramatically reduced operating costs and sizeable layoffs of white-collar employees.
*Blockchain technology will be co-opted and integrated into the established banking system, significantly reducing transaction costs and automating complex contract agreements.
*Financial technology (FinTech) companies that operate entirely online and offer specialized and cost-effective services to consumer and business clients will continue to erode the client base of larger institutional banks.
*Physical currency will disappear in much of Asia and Africa first due to each region’s limited exposure to credit card systems and early adoption of internet and mobile payment technologies. Western countries will gradually follow suit. Select financial institutions will act as intermediaries for mobile transactions, but will see increasing competition from tech companies who operate mobile platforms—they will see an opportunity to offer payment and banking services to their mobile users, thereby cutting out traditional banks.
*Growing income inequality throughout the 2020s will lead to an increase in fringe political parties winning elections and encouraging stricter financial regulations.