Work experience with HSBC Malaysia

Hello Everyone,

It has only been a week at HSBC and already I have learnt so much. Since there isn’t a specific department for PR I was placed at the Marketing and Communications department which deals with sales and customer care service.

For the first 2 weeks there, my tasks were very focused on marketing and promoting the products and services offered by HSBC Malaysia. I found these 2 weeks to be challenging! It is not as easy as it seems to sell credit cards as there are many other banks offering competitive and if not lower interest rates. At first I was really nervous and uncertain as I had to read as much information as possible about the product and be familiar with it. I was required to be able to answer all questions and quires that the customers might have regarding the product. There are basically 3 types of credit cards offered by the bank; platinum, gold and classic. The more popular ones were the classic and the gold because of the lower interest rate (compared to the platinum) and the eligibility factor. Also to promote the credit cards, various campaigns are held each month to promote sales. During my time there, the promotion was called ‘Guaranteed to Fly’. For every approved credit card applicant, the bank issues a return flight ticket to Singapore via JetStar.

I found that though credit cards were more difficult to sell, housing loans were easier to market because of the low interest rate and flexible and easy repayment scheme. During my time at HSBC, the property market in Malaysia was lower than usual and therefore, many customers came in to apply for housing loans. It was not necessary to convince or persuade them to apply. Also, I felt that with the housing loans, more people apply for it because everyone has to buy a house at some point. Be it a single person, young couple or family or an older couple, houses are always a necessity whether it is to be lived in or as a form of investment.

Other sorts of products offered by the bank which I had to market were various types of insurance and personal loans. Overall, the services and products offered by HSBC Malaysia are very very good and reputable however, as it is a foreign bank, fees, interest rates and other charges are slightly higher in comparison to local banks.