Not trivial amount

I have been following with concern the decision by HSBC to levy a monthly fee of $40 on all savings accounts that maintain a balance of less than $5,000 each month.

Thousands of workers in Hong Kong will be affected by this decision.

A case in point is our domestic helper, who does not even earn $5,000 a month and most of what she does earn is sent back to the Philippines to support her family.

It may be that $40 seems a trivial amount for the directors of HSBC, but to a family living on a subsistence income, $40 buys a lot of rice.

Since when were banks in business to penalise the poor?

HSBC should be ashamed.