The new head of wealth and personal banking at HSBC in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man says that Jersey is not immune to global banking trends but remains driven by its local community. Emily Moore reports
IT is perhaps apt, given that Alvaro Teixeira arrived in Jersey only four months ago, that one of the first things he has noticed is how helpful people are when he asks for directions.
Equally striking for the newly appointed head of wealth and personal banking at HSBC in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man is the politeness and friendliness that he has encountered since moving to the Island.
“Jersey is a lovely place and I have been very impressed by how polite and helpful people are,” he said. “My first big impression is that if you ask someone for help, they will actually help you. You ask for directions and they take you by the hand and show you the way. Motorists give way to you. It all contributes to a real sense of community that I haven’t seen in other places.”
And that community spirit has not just resonated with Alvaro on a personal level. It also, he says, underpins HSBC’s approach to the services it offers Islanders, something which he says people will see when they visit the bank’s flagship King Street branch, which reopened on Monday after a seven-month refurbishment.
“While HSBC is a global bank, it takes a local approach to each of the communities it serves and our customers in that jurisdiction are the driving force behind the decisions we make,” he said.
In Jersey, that customer behaviour presents an interesting dichotomy for the bank and has, says Alvaro, influenced the way in which the King Street branch has been designed.
“We have seen that while some countries are very much transactional, Jersey is much more relationship-driven, so our frontline people have much longer conversations with customers than staff in other markets might do,” he said.
Despite this, Alvaro, who has worked in seven countries over a 13-year career with HSBC, says that Jersey is not immune from global banking trends.
“Footfall to our branches is decreasing, which is why our Halkett Street branch closed last week and our Five Oaks premises are due to close in August,” he said. “This drop in footfall stems from a lower demand for simple transactions to be conducted in person. For example, very few people now would visit a counter to withdraw cash, instead using an ATM. Similarly, most people check their account balances online and make simple payments online.
“However, when it comes to the big life decisions, such as arranging a mortgage or managing their wealth, very few customers want to carry out that process online. When it comes to these more complex services, being able to sit down and have a conversation with a member of staff remains important.”
Accordingly, the bank’s King Street address now includes two counters – designed to counteract the impact of the Halkett Street closure – as well as dedicated areas where different conversations can take place.
“The idea was to create a world-class facility, which combines new technology with traditional relationship-style banking,” he said. “Customers will see brand-new ATMs, which are not only more resilient than the previous models but which enable them to carry out a much wider range of services than were previously available.
“Contrasted with that, there are areas for quick conversations with members of staff as well as separate spaces where you can sit down with a relationship manager and have a private conversation. This combination of technology and conversation areas makes the branch fit for the demands of the future.”
Having grown up in Brazil, Alvaro’s career began in global markets, trading foreign currencies, stocks, derivatives and fixed incomes.
“I did that for nearly 20 years before deciding to change career and join HSBC after the financial crisis of 2008/09,” he said. “After experiencing the trauma of that crisis, I decided that it was time to do something different but I wanted to remain in the financial world.
“HSBC’s international management programme offered me an opportunity to learn about wealth and personal banking. It was a great challenge and, with the nature of the role, you are deployed to different countries around the world, depending on the business’s needs.”
Having joined the bank’s international manager cohort while living in Canada, the role has since taken him to Brazil, China, Mexico, America and London before Malta, where he ran that island’s retail and private banking division.
“The role in Malta was very similar to the one that I am now doing for the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man,” he explained.
And the wealth management side of the islands’ business is one where Alvaro expects to see particular growth.
“The cost-of-living crisis has definitely led to an increase in demand for financial planning services,” he reflected. “A few years ago, when we asked customers whether they would be interested in talking to one of our financial advisers, many of them declined but now, not only are such invitations being accepted but a lot of people are asking us for such a service.
“This is largely because everyone wants to make the best financial decisions possible and wants to understand how the higher interest rates are going to impact their lives. Linked to this, we have noticed that customers are becoming much more conscientious when it comes to deciding whether to make a significant purchase.
“Such decisions around saving and spending are often based on inflationary pressures. Having grown up in an inflationary country, I know that there will be a lot of volatility before we manage to defeat the ‘dragon of inflation’.
“While people might be particularly conscious of this if they are in debt or looking at their outgoings, it is a situation which also impacts savings. If the returns on your savings are below the rate of inflation, then you are losing purchase power. Inflation is an invisible tax, and it isn’t good for anyone.”
And it is not only the subjects on which customers are engaging with the bank which is changing with the times.
As Alvaro says, the nature of that engagement is constantly evolving.
“At the moment, we engage with customers in many different ways,” he said. “Many people start a process online and then pick up the phone to speak to one of our team before finishing the transaction either in a branch or on the computer. While some people want that personal contact with a team member, there is also tremendous potential to further digitise our services, and that is an area where we are investing a considerable amount of money.
“This investment in our mobile app and across our digital platforms will enable us to migrate more services online, giving customers greater choice and convenience. It will also enable us to make our communications more personal and targeted to the individual rather than to a group.”
Of course, with each digital innovation, the question of security raises its head.
“Everything we do is approached in the same way,” said Alvaro. “The first consideration is what the customer needs and the second is how to develop that safely. Any platform that we deploy has to have a security platform behind it to ensure that financial transactions are conducted securely.
“And that development of customer services, coupled with an open and transparent leadership style, which will support further growth opportunities for our employees in the islands, sums up two of my three main aspirations for my new role. My third goal, which also harks back to my first impressions of Jersey, is to deliver positive results and contribute to the Island in ways which reinforce that sense of community which is already so prevalent.”
