Balancing act the key to all-in-one banking

BANKS in the territory are increasingly offering an all-in-one range of financial services for the convenience of their customers.

Phone banking and consolidated monthly statements for different types of accounts, for example, can considerably reduce customers' time and paperwork.

But this trend has also been criticised and described as 'product bundling'. Integrated accounts encourage customers to stay with the same bank for a variety of services, rather than shop around for the best deal.

One Hongkong Bank Power Vantage account holder said: 'I only had to pick up the phone to arrange my personal instalment loan. But the interest is high.' The types of services typically included in integrated accounts include foreign currency deposits, phone banking, credit facilities ATM cards with Easy Payment System access and a consolidated statement.

Citibank claims to have been the first to offer an integrated account in Hong Kong with the launch of Citiplus 10 years ago.

Earlier this year, it was revamped and renamed Currency Manager which now offers 21 currencies for deposit.