HSBC Holdings to put 400 consumer branches up for sale in France

[milkeybar kid]

 HSBC Holdings, the biggest bank in Europe, plans to put about half of its 800 French consumer branches up for sale as it focuses on expanding in Asia and other emerging markets, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

    The step would be part of HSBC's broader shift from developed markets with more exposure to subprime loans to faster-growing emerging markets, a person with direct knowledge of the plan was quoted as saying.

    The British Daily Telegraph newspaper also reported on Sunday that a sale of the branches in France, estimated to be worth about 4 billion dollars, could end speculation among investors that HSBC was a potential bidder for Societe Generale, the French bank at the center of a trading scandal.

[Ian]

Thanks MilkyBarKid

Interesting post.  (I just stopped getting the WSJ here in France - typical!)

I bank with the HSBC in the UK (both for personal and my company banks with them too) they have been great.  We were just considering switching to them here in France ... I'll keep my eyes out for more news.

Thanks again,

Ian

[Clair]

Latest news: HSBC-France: le credit mutuel donné favori

[Hagar]

[quote user="Ian"]Thanks MilkyBarKid

I bank with the HSBC in the UK (both for personal and my company banks with them too) they have been great.  We were just considering switching to them here in France ... I'll keep my eyes out for more news.

Thanks again,
Ian
[/quote]

Ian - I understand that they will be keeping the old CCF branches - which is probably what you would want particularly if maintaining an account in the UK. (online international transfers and such like only work with CCF not the other regional banks HSBC purchased).

I too had personal and business accounts with HSBC in UK and considered switching the whole lot to HSBC/CCF France. However I started first with a personal account in CCF which was actually opened for me by HSBC in the UK.  Having experienced their services I decided not to switch the business accounts but instead closed them down in UK and opened up with Banque Populaire locally.

I keep the pesonal account in CCF/HSBC because the internet linking with the UK is superb and it is easy to make online payments and transfers in France. (There is a long but old thread about this somewhere where I describe making an internet transfer from HSBC (UK)  via two banks in France and withdrawing that money from a Credt Agricole cash m/c in Languedoc the next day - most people didn't beleive it).

As for the rest of their services , I am not at all impressed, nothing like the level of service I receive in the UK, and boy do they like their silly paperwork.

Just my experience

rgds

Hagar

 

[Gastines]

Such is life. We only changed to them recently as we could draw £1000 a time in euros from any branch. With the exchange rate at it's present level we have given up on that. We are hoping the rate goes up a bit before we run out of cash over here. A couple of weeks ago I was quoted 1.28 -£1.

Regards.

[George]

hi Ian

Have to say had much the same experience as Hagar with CCF/HSBC - nothing like the UK service, so much so that we have just closed the account with them at the Le Mans branch and all in all not had a pleasant experience.  Although advertised as the Worlds local bank they certainly aren't trading like one and our Premier status in UK was reluctantly afforded us in France, but never amounted to anything.  It may of course have been because we only kept small amounts in credit and used it to pay bills etc while we still live in UK.  They seemed fine at first while trading as CCF but eventually service simply eroded.

It's long sorry saga, but whilst on my last branch visit there was a row with a French customer and although I couldn't make out what it was really about, the tone of the counter staff was not at all too pleasant. Was not too pleased myself when I discovered they had lost my pin number then subsequently charged me for applying for another etc etc.

 

 

[BJSLIV]

I think the problem is that CCF was historically a bank that concentrated on International Banking, proper Private Banking and Investments.

Dealing with little people with a few francs in their account was never their thing.

The treatment handed out at their counters, when the staff really do let you know they are doing you a favour by even letting you through the doors, stems from this history.

The proposal to sell many of the branches perhaps shows that they intend to return to their roots.

 

[George]

[quote user="BJSLIV"]Dealing with little people with a few francs in their account was never their thing. The treatment handed out at their counters when the staff really do let you know they are doing you a favour even letting you through the doors stems from this history.[/quote]

It is something we were aware of and carefully explained to our UK bank when they set the account up for us.  They obviously didn't pass it on or perhaps the staff changed.  Anyway we have found a nice friendly little bank in the village now - a pleasure to visit