HSBC Hong Kong, announced its decision to cut fees and offer rebates to struggling Hong Kong based small and medium sized enterprises (SME).
The on-going trade war between the US and China along with the protests conducted in the country against the government has weakened Hong Kong’s economy and brought it on the verge of recession. The conflicts going on in the country has limited the number of tourists and paralysed the shopping regions, greatly affecting the revenues of the country.
HSBC’s Hong Kong branch is the largest bank operating in the country. The bank offered refunds up to HK$20,000 in interest payments for loans taken between March and August under SME Financing Guarantee Scheme and the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme.
The bank also announced deduction in transaction fees for businesses that use its mobile payment service.
Hang Seng Bank, the HSBC’s Hong Kong subsidiary will also provide similar rebates in interest as its parent bank.
HSBC is the only large lender in Hong Kong to have come up with measures to help the people in such adverse situation.
HSBC received $12.4 billion as profit in the first half of 2019. Around 52 percent of the profit amount came from Hong Kong, making it the single biggest market for the bank.
Terence Chiu, head of commercial banking at HSBC Hong Kong branch stated that over 98 percent of the local enterprises are SMEs and they account for about 45 percent of the total employment in Hong Kong, which makes it necessary to help them in such crisis times.
HSBC had previously offered packages to small and medium Hong Kong based companies back in 2009, during the global crisis. The bank had also helped the country by offering fee subsidies for the financing guarantee scheme in 2018.