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HSBC and subsidiary Hang Seng Bank have unveiled online banking products that will include cut-price share trading and funds transfer services.

Brokerage rates charged for Internet share trading will be cut to 0.25 per cent - the present regulated minimum - from rates ranging from 0.4 per cent to 0.5 per cent charged by the banks' securities firms. Bank charges of HK$200 on offshore telegraphic transfers will be cut to HK$100 when conducted online.

Local interbank transfers made on the Internet will also attract sharply lower charges of HK$30 compared with the normal over-the-counter charge of HK$150.

The unveiling of the Internet transaction services comes almost a year after first-mover Bank of East Asia launched its first e-banking products.

'They have not been first off the mark but, to my mind, getting it right is probably more important,' Salomon Smith Barney director Raymond Lee said.

Included in the Internet transactions offered on the HSBC Web site is a facility to transfer funds to accounts held by other banks, but for the moment, Hang Seng customers will only be able to transfer funds to other Hang Seng bank accounts.

Bill payments may also be made on both Web sites, and a feature of the service is that payment dates may be pre-set up to 45 days in advance.

Hang Seng Bank vice-chairman and chief executive Vincent Cheng Hoi-chuen said revenues likely to flow from the investment made in Internet banking were 'a little unclear at the moment'.

But 'Hang Seng is a very good brand name with a sentimental and special place for Overseas Chinese', he added.

'We hope to reach customers we could not reach before, like those overseas Chinese who know Hong Kong.'

Soon to be added to the system was an MPF service offering balance inquiry, contribution history, and fund performance, as well as a 24-hour insurance service offering instant approvals for travel insurance, said HSBC head of personal e-banking Richard Kimber.

HSBC chairman David Eldon said meeting the expectations of the 'Net generation' presented significant challenges.



HSBC, Hang Seng launch cut-price online services