How Will HSBC’s Cut Affect Canada?

If you walk around the Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR), you will notice a lot of HSBC advertisements.

HSBC is planning to cut 50,000 or so jobs worldwide, which is fairly significant. That being said, the impact on Canada remains unclear. For the time being, “There were no specific announcements made regarding Canada. It remains a priority market for HSBC, sitting across several key trade corridors” (HSBC spokesperson Sharon Wilkes.

HSBC operates 145 branches across Canada, covering all provinces except the province of Prince Edward Island.

I think that it would be a major blow to the Canadian banking system to loose HSBC, if it were to happen. As it is, the competition is fairly weak already, as we have very limited choices. I suggest to HSBC, in addition to making all these cuts, they should invest into improving their products and services to take some clients away from some of the other banks.

I really feel that the market is wide open in Canada for someone to come in or to step up with something more competitive. It is no secret that a lot of consumers complain about the current state of the financial sector. Banks may not be able to control the interest rates, but they can control their credit card portfolio, transaction fees and customer service.

In short, cutting expenses may be a short term solution, I really believe that an overhaul in their products and services will be an even better solution.