What it does: HSBC Philippines provides corporate and personal banking, consumer loans, credit cards, and deposits and investments
Best known for: Being one of the largest banks in the Philippines despite having only eight branches
Staff stats: More than 1,000 employees
Financials: Php194.64 billion in total assets for 2021
The good bits: HSBC Philippines provides employees with a ‘total compensation package that includes competitive salaries. For instance, general bank associates and staff may earn up to Php23,000 per month.
The not-so-good bits: Fresh grads who land a job in customer-facing roles should prepare to work during holidays and weekends.
HSBC established its presence in the Philippines in 1875. Over 140 years later, HSBC Philippines has become one of the leading foreign commercial and universal banks in the country.
HSBC Philippines provides corporate and personal banking, consumer loans, credit cards, and deposits and investments. The bank has eight branches including three thrift bank branches of HSBC Savings Bank (Philippines).
As of 2021, HSBC Philippines’ total assets amounted to Php194.64 billion. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ranked the company as the 15th largest bank in the country.
The biggest challenge for young new hires at HSBC Philippines may involve poor work-life balance. While some employees work during regular hours from Monday to Friday, back-office and frontline employees may follow a different schedule.
Customer service associates are an example. The company may require them and other customer-facing roles to work during holidays and weekends. Despite a challenging work schedule, many insiders agree that the company remains a good choice to start a career.
For instance, HSBC Philippines encourages constant learning and professional development among employees. The company does this by offering classroom programs, online courses, and on-the-job experiences.
HSBC Philippines’ local and foreign competitors include Bank of the Philippine Islands, BDO Unibank, Citibank Philippines, and Metrobank.
In 2021, HSBC Philippines denied that it experienced a security breach that led to hacked credit card accounts. The company, however, confirmed that it ‘detected unusual transactions and customers received SMS (text) alerts’ for unauthorized transactions.
HSBC Philippines launched several donation campaigns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These initiatives include:
The company partnered with ABS-CBN Foundation’s Pantawid ng Pag-Ibig to provide necessities for families who lost their livelihood sources.
HSBC Philippines prefers to hire ambitious fresh grads who are always willing to learn new things. Young new hires must be ready to take on demanding work schedules in a seemingly customer-centric environment.
Fresh grads can ask about recruitment-related information by sending a message to jobs@hsbc.com.ph. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s general selection rounds happen through digital channels.
In general, candidates should expect to go through up to five recruitment stages:
Internship applicants may only need to attend a video interview. Most of the questions during the interview process determine a person’s professional behaviour and skills.
Previous applicants advised fresh grads to be patient during the entire recruitment phase. HSBC Philippines may take 19 days on average to process applications. A background check seems to be the biggest factor for a prolonged hiring process.
A typical employee at HSBC Philippines may earn a total annual salary of Php415,000. Fresh grads should expect to earn a lower rate, particularly for frontline or back-office roles.
For example, an outbound credit card collector’s monthly salary may range from Php15,000 to Php17,000. General bank associates and staff may earn up to Php23,000 per month.
Interns said that the company pays them up to Php8,000 per month. HSBC Philippines described its remuneration package as ‘total compensation with variable pay differentiated by the performance’.
Insiders cited several benefits from the total compensation scheme including but not limited to:
In 2020, the company offered a work-from-home arrangement to employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fresh grads can join HSBC Philippines as general-banking staff if they have college degrees from recognized universities. The company either designates them to a frontline role or back-office position.
Some back-office jobs involve branch support, credit cards, and trade operations. The company divides career opportunities into two primary groups.
The company’s Global Businesses division includes the Global Banking and Markets, and Wealth and Personal Banking departments. The division’s financial, human resources, risk, and technology employees also work under the Global Functions department.
The two GSCs in Alabang, Muntinlupa, and Quezon City provide operational support to the Global Businesses and Global Functions.
Fresh grads may find more opportunities to join HSBC Philippines’ Global Business and Global Functions teams. The company doesn’t seem to have plenty of vacancies at its two GSCs.