We've received a missive from economist Jim Walker, the founder and managing director of Asianomics, who is currently sojourning in Europe. He was recently in Paris, and attempted to use his HSBC ATM card at an HSBC ATM machine on the Champs-Élysées. The only payment network used by HSBC outside Hong Kong is China UnionPay. A Hong Kong-issued ATM card did not work at the illustrious location, Walker writes.
He was told his card was not recognised and could not be used. However, he passes on cheery news:, "Not to worry, the card works perfectly well at Societe Generale, which, in France, does recognise UnionPay. And your Royal Bank of Scotland card will work at HSBC." His final thoughts on this: "Too big to fail? These banks are just too big to work."
HSBC has assured us it will offer an alternative ATM card in October that will use the Plus payment network.
One of the sidelines to our evidently futile campaign on illegal parking has been to highlight the activities of listed companies that compound the problem.