HSBC and Barclays Banks of the UK - Report Example

IT and Banking: HSBC and Barclays Banks of the UK Name Course Tutor Date 1.0. Introduction The use of information technology (IT) in banks generally refers to the use of computers and peripheral items. Notably, IT use has occasioned the growth of the banking industry through services such as information exchanges, security investments, electronic payments and Internet banking among others (Berger 2003). Based on the increased usage of information technology, banks are now able to provide a diverse range of services without necessarily increasing the manpower. Previous studies (e.g. Ho & Mallick 2006, p. 2) have concluded that the use of IT enables banks to reduce their operational costs hence the cost advantage, and that IT use facilitates “transactions among customers within the same network” hence the network effect. One of the ways through which banks are able to obtain cost advantage through the use of IT is encouraging their customers to use the Internet to conduct simple transactions such as balance enquiries, bill payments and bill transfers. The time that the banks’ human resource would have spent attending to the simple transactions such as answering customers’ queries or manually balancing the financial records is then dedicated to high-value transactions such as investment banking, business lending, and personal-trust services (Ho & Mallick 2006). One of the most pronounced uses of IT by banks is through the automated teller machines (ATMs), which according to Ho and Mallick (2006), enhance customers’ access to their bank accounts. Additionally, ATMs enable banks to disperse their services to wider geographical areas, hence increasing the network reach of the same banks. The European Central Bank (1999) terms ATMs as kiosks or self-banking models, where customers can use the interactive computer screen to get access to his/her bank account without the assistance of a bank clerk. The European Central Bank (1999) further indicates that the use of IT in banks has created major opportunities since banks can increase their market share, gain competitive advantage, and improve risk management and efficiency. Additionally, the use of IT has enabled banks to form alliances with telecommunications operators and technology partners, hence creating an enabling environment for further research and development (European Central Bank 1999). Finally, IT use in banks creates opportunities for banks to diversify into different business areas such as non-financial services, electronic commerce, and can even become service aggregators, hence opening up new opportunities from where banks can obtain a competitive advantage (European Central Bank 1999). But ATMs are not the only advantage that IT use has on its customers; according to Ghaziri (1998) the advantages of IT use are three-directional since they involve the banks, the bank employees, and the bank customers. For banks, major advantages that accrue from IT use include: computerised inquiry facilities which assist banks in developing and following up on business plans; immediate response to queries voiced by customers; prompt and automatic response to instructions and generation of accurate reports; and fast and timely transfer of information hence enabling speedier decision-making (Ghaziri 1998). As the European Central Bank (1999, p.8) notes, “Banking is a very information-intensive business” and as such, IT use had lessened the burden of handling paper work by substituting the laborious paper work with computer-based programmes. For bank employees, IT use is said to have had an effect on their productivity through: providing accurate computing, which saves them time from the previously time-consuming and cumbersome jobs such as calculating interests; freeing employee’s time to attend to customer’s needs; availing signature retrieval facilities, which helps in verifying transactions without banking staff having to move from their terminals; the use of single-point data entry, which avoids duplication hence saving the staff some invaluable time which would otherwise be spent correcting the duplications. In a report by the European Central Bank (1999), it was indicated that most of the advantages that banks employees have in regard to the use of IT has been occasioned by the use of automated processes, which had replaced the labour-intensive, paper-based methods that were used previously. Arguably, the customer is the greatest beneficiary of IT use in banking. According to Ghaziri (1998), the customer derives benefits such as: self-inquiry services, remote banking, anytime-anywhere banking, electronic banking, and fast and accurate banking services. This report will address how two leading banks in the UK – i.e. Barclays Bank and HSBC – have utilised IT. The report will consider how the use of IT by the two individual banks has contributed to their respective success and/or progress, especially during acute times like the 2008/2009 economic crisis. The report contains a findings and analysis section, as well as a conclusion and recommendations section. In the latter section, the report recommends that Barclays Bank continues (and enhances) its identification of technology risks, because only such a measure would enable it to take adequate mitigation measures against threats. The report recommends a similar approach for HSBC, which in the primary data gathered, there is no mention of how the bank manages its IT-related risks. The report concludes by noting that both banks should ensure that their IT infrastructure and architecture enhance transparency, since consumers’ perception about service quality is affected by their perceptions regarding the quality of IT-enabled services that a bank offers. Finally, the report notes that service quality perceptions have an effect on customer satisfaction and loyalty, factors which have a direct link to a bank’s good financial performance. 2.0. Literature Review IT and its more encompassing counterpart, information communication technology (ICT), are at the heart of the banking sector. As witnessed from the recent economic crisis, the banking sector is on the other hand at the heart of individual state economies, and the bigger systemically linked world economy. Aliyu and Tasmin (2012) observe that IT has created an infrastructure that makes it possible for the globalisation of the world economy. Additionally, banks that use IT have a competitive advantage over other market players since they are able to offer customers easier IT-driven banking solutions. Claessens, Glaessner and Klingebiel (2001) observe that IT use has lowered the processing costs for banks, and reduced the switching costs for customers. On his part, Sundaram (2011) indicates that banks are able to earn improved revenues through the use of IT, which is an indirect result of the enhanced customer focus, which leads to better cross sales and increased retention, hence the increased revenues. Sundaram (2011) also argues that IT enhances customer loyalty towards banks, improves staff performance, and enhances cost reduction. It has also been observed that most banks adopt IT use in response to high expectations from customers, intense competition with other banks for market-share, and banks’ desire to delight customers. In an article by Strategic Direction (2003), it has been noted that IT use in American banks has been widely successful, a feat that European banks were trying to replicate. With specific mention of Germany and France, Strategic Direction (2003), indicates that banks in both countries made heavy investments in IT systems. Most of such investments went to back-office automation and scanning systems, which were ostensibly meant to increase efficiency, save costs, and increase the banks’ profitability. Writing specifically about the recent economic crisis, Ganguli and Roy (2011) observe that banks have adopted the use of IT as a means of gaining competitive advantage over their market rivals. Considering that most services and products offered by banks are more or less standard in nature, Ganguli and Roy (2011) observe that banks are increasingly using IT tools that influence the satisfaction and loyalty of their consumers. Writing on the issue of consumer satisfaction and the resulting loyalty, Surjadjaja et al. (2003 cited by Ganguli & Roy 2011) note that technology use in banking has provided the service providers with tools with which they can design and deliver enhanced customer services, hence boosting the consumers’ confidence, satisfaction and subsequently, loyalty to the banks. Ganguli and Roy (2011) further argue that technology use provides banks with other competitive advantages, which include: increased revenues, enhanced productivity, and creation of market entry barriers. Overall however, it appears that there is consensus in some literature sources (i.e. Ganguli & Roy 2011; Surjadjaja et al. 2003) that the perceived quality of IT used in banks is a predictor of customer satisfaction and the resulting customer loyalty. The perceived quality of IT-enabled services is according to Ganguli and Roy (2011), based on several dimensions, which are: ease of use, content accessible through IT tools, information acquisition, automated search, mass customisation, and communication and interactions among customers. Based on a study they conducted, Ganguli and Roy (2011) further identify “technology security and information quality; technology convenience; technology usage easiness and reliability; and customer service” as the main dimensions that bank managers should consider using as guidelines to help them understand how consumers’ perceptions regarding the quality of IT-enabled banking services are shaped. Al-Hawari et al. (2005) however indicate that the dimensions that affect customers’ perceptions regarding the quality of IT-enabled banking services include: price perceptions, perceptions regarding core services, the quality of Internet banking, the quality of telephone banking, and the quality of ATMs used by specific banks. On his part, Yang et al. (2004) observe that the dimensions of IT-enabled service quality include: the reliability, competence, security, ease of use, responsiveness and product portfolio of the IT-enabled banking services. Joseph and Stone (2003) add their voice into the debate by indicating that accuracy, queue management, customer service, customisation/personalisation, and complaint/feedback management are other dimensions that affect the perceived quality of IT-enabled banking services. From the diverse dimensions indicated by different authors, it would appear that there is no consensus about the factors that affect customers’ perceptions regarding the quality of IT-enabled banking services. Yet, Ganguli and Roy (2011) indicate that service quality (perceived or real) affects customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction on the other hand affects customer loyalty, and to a great extent, also affects the financial performance of the bank. One of the vital and specific considerations that bank managers ought to make when considering the quality of their IT-enabled services is customer service. According to Ganguli and Roy (2011), customer service is often sought by customers either through phone calls or emails to dedicated bank call centres. Away from the debate relating customers and their preferences, Marinč (2013) observes that the use of IT has allowed banks to “exploit scale and scope economies” as can be seen in transactional banking. Banks are also able to engage in financial innovations which enhance their marketability. Prior to the 2008/2009 financial crisis, Marinč (2013) notes that IT enhanced banks’ marketability and this ended up facilitating their opportunistic behaviour. Combined with the herding behaviour evident in the financial industry, Marinč (2013) argues that increased IT use undermined (albeit indirectly) the financial sector’s stability. Notably, IT development and use in the banking industry has revolutionised the business processes therein. IT for example allows banks to exploit quantitative data in a better way, transmit the same, and base decisions on the same data (Marinč 2013). In banks’ back offices, quantifiable information obtained from IT-based processes helps in decision-making, and especially in matters related to transactional banking. Notably, IT has enabled bank staff to have access to integrated data, and as Marinč (2013, p. 4) notes, “IT software and infrastructure are combined to link bank products and services to customers, back office functions and business units”. Pan and Vina (2004) also observe that IT tools such as aggregators, web browsers and web wrappers, combined with IT developments like the Internet have increased the information that banks have in their possession. However, IT has also reshaped how banks manage risks (Bambeger 2010). Specifically, banks need to design and implement internal processes, which successfully recognise, determine, and mitigate risks. In conclusion, it is important to note that despite the good side of IT use in banks, The Economist (2009) observes that IT use, if not properly managed, can have far-ranging side effects for banks. Problems with their data quality are one such effect, especially if different IT programmes define the same assets differently. As The Economist (2009) notes, numbers may not always add up, and managers heading different departments may not always trust figures emerging from departments they do not head. As such, The Economist (2009) notes that sifting through the IT infrastructure in search of the accurate information may at times be detective work. The scenario is even worse if the IT landscape in a bank is fragments, hence making it difficult to trace the bank’s risk exposure before or during a crisis. During the 2008/2009 financial crisis, The Economist notes that most banks had to go on fact-finding missions in order to determine their risk exposure. While the economic crisis was not entirely the making of IT systems as used in banks, The Economist (2009) notes that they played a major role in exacerbating the crisis. Arguably, those banks that navigated the economic crisis relatively well are those that had IT systems that had the necessary transparent measures. In the next section, this report will look into the IT systems and infrastructure at Barclays Bank and HSBC in a bid to determine whether indeed they played a role in the banks’ success and progress. 3.0. Research Methodology Greener (2008, p. 10) defines a research methodology as the “attitude to and your understanding of research and the strategy you choose to answer research questions”. In line with the foregoing definition, this report uses a research methodology that is best described as qualitative. The report further takes an inductive approach to research, whereby, the researcher first focused on two banks (Barclays and HSBC), and through secondary research, generated plausible reasons of how IT has contributed to their progress and performance (especially during the financial crisis). The study further takes an interpretivist approach, which according to Max Weber (1864-1920 cited by Greener (2008, p. 17), “attempts the interpretive understanding of social action in order to arrive at a causal explanation of its course and effects”. Based on the foregoing, this report will attempt to see IT and banking through the experiences of the two featured banks, hence allowing multiple realities and/or perspectives to arise from the research. Further, this report is based on secondary research, mainly obtained from online sources such as newspaper websites, banks’ websites, and banks’ annual reports. The benefits of using such form of research for this report are that it did not consume much time and resources in the research stage. Additionally, the writer was able to access historical data about the two banks whose case is argued herein. According to Greener (2008), secondary research is easier compared to its primary research counterpart, because researchers often need to search sources which are easily accessible in public domains. The research relied on credible source (e.g. annual bank reports, reviews commissioned by banks, peer-reviewed journals where applicable, and newspaper and magazine articles). To get the appropriate secondary sources, targeted keywords (e.g. IT use in Barclays UK, IT use in HSBC, IT effect on Banks, IT use in banks among others) were used. In line with the constructivist approach, this report sought to construct knowledge from the data obtained from the primary research from the two banks in relation to their utilisation of IT. According to Greener (2008), constructivists hold the view that there is no independent reality; instead, reality about something (in this case the use of IT and its effect on two subject banks) is constructed in the minds of people who are interested in it. In the banks’ case for example, a constructivist approach would argue that the reality about the utilisation of IT and its affect on the banks depends on the different realities as perceived in the minds of shareholders, customers, staff, and regulatory bodies among other stakeholders. 4.0. Data Collection and Analysis Barclays Bank Plc is a commercial bank that provides financial services in the UK, Europe, America Asia, Middle East and Africa (Business Week 2013). Barclays was a leader in the use of IT in the banking sector, when in 1959, the bank first used a computer to handle its accounting (Answers Corporation 2013). Additionally, the bank was the first to use an automatic cash-dispensing machine, and has also been cited as having started a plastic revolution to replace money through its 1966 introduction of the Barclaycard (Answers Corporation 2013). In 1987, the bank launched UK’s premier debit card, the Barclays Connect. In 1995, Barclays became the first UK bank to launch a website, and two years later in 1997, the bank launched the first personal computer (PC) banking service targeting the small business (Barclays 2013a). A year later in 1998, the bank launched the first ever drive-through automated teller machine in the UK, and in 2001, the bank partnered with five international banks to offer free ATM access to their customers (Barclays 2013a). In 2008, the banks issued contactless-enabled debit cards, and in 2009, it gave its customers free security software for use on mobile phones (Barclays 2013a). Commenting on IT use at Barclays, Salz (2013, p. 183) observes that technology played (and still plays) an important “mediating role in social validation”. According to Salz (2013), Barclays has realised that the social-technical aspect of their IT systems have to consider and immediate social norms of the users. With the foregoing in mind, Salz (2013) indicate the IT systems at Barclays have to reflect the social and cognitive needs of users. Specifically, and for purposes of enhancing system usability, the systems are designed in a manner that corresponds to the users’ cognitive needs. Based on this, Barclays has continuously designed IT-enabled products and services that appeal to the consumers and place the bank in a market leading position. Still, Barclays is not lost to the probability that IT utilisation has tilted managerial focus from humans and their judgement to numbers and analytics. As can be seen in Salz’s (2013, pp. 183-184) observation below, technology has created distances between banks, their customers, and the regulators. In the past supervisors came to see us and looked us in the eye...in turn we looked our customers in the eye. We made informal and subjective judgements about whether what customers said stacked up and the regulators did the same with us. We all became obsessed with the quality of numbers and algorithms; we stopped being human beings. Technology replaced human and created a distance between banker and customer and banker and regulator, giving a sense of independence from normal subjective interactions. Notably, and going by Salz’s (2013) quotation above, the use of IT came at a risk of replacing humans with technology, and good or bad judgement with money. Salz (2013) therefore indicates that while understanding how mathematical and technological judgements affect social context is a difficult task, banks do not have an option of deciding not to understand how to use IT effectively in a given social context. At Barclays for example, it would appear that the bank understands that IT-enabled services for consumers have to be easy-to-use because while some customers may have the ability to handle complex IT systems, a significant majority do not have the capacity or willingness to engage such complex systems. On the other hand, the bank indicates that IT systems for use by the bank staff do not have to be easy-to-use because the bank can internally train and develop staff’s capacity to handle the same (Barclays 2013b). In the 2009 financial report, Barclays acknowledged that while IT is an essential business enabler, it also requires appropriate control especially considering the presence of technology risks. The report identified such risks as “non-availability of IT systems, inadequate design and testing of new and changed IT solutions and inadequate IT system security” (Barclays 2009, p. 8). Although not explicitly indicated in any of the secondary sources obtained for use in this report, this report will assume that having identified the foregoing cited risks, Barclays Bank had put efforts towards ensuring that it had adequate IT systems to serve its back office and front office needs. Additionally, the report will assume that Barclays Bank had tested the design of any new or changed IT solutions in order to verify their adequacy towards serving the bank’s back and front office operations. The final assumption in relation to Barclays is that the bank had put in place adequate security measures for its IT systems. The 2008 issuance of the contactless-enabled debit cards is arguably an example of the security measures that the bank had put in place in relation to its IT systems. HSBC Holdings Plc is ranked among the largest financial and banking service organisations in the world (Sang 2006). The bank’s headquarters is in London, and it has established its presence in 76 countries across the world. Utilisation of IT at HSBC is best illustrated by the advanced technology which links the bank’s international network, which according to Sang (2006), makes it possible for the bank to provide a wide range of banking products, which include private banking, commercial banking, personal banking, and corporate investment banking among other services. Through IT utilisation, HSBC has also diversified its revenue streams, something which it credits for differentiating its products and services from the rest of players in the market, and which it says provides it with a competitive advantage (HSBC Group 2006). In support of HSBC’s position regarding the role of IT in the bank, Annesley (2006) indicates that strategic IT management has driven HSBC’s growth in the past two decades. As far back as 1999, HSBC introduced online banking in Britain and by doing so, became the first bank to offer such a service. HSBC also offered interactive banking through TV sets to customers, and this too was a first in the banking industry (Annesley 2006). HSBC also became the first bank to use trade stocks via a screen in Hong Kong (Capell & Clifford 1999). According to Barney (2002), adopting and using technology at a time when other banks had not adopted the same gave HSBC a first-mover technology advantage. Going forward however, Barney (2002) indicates that HSBC adopted a corporate strategy that sought to utilise and manage IT resources that were rare, valuable and difficult to copy by industry competitors. Barney (2002) further notes that the IT strategy adopted by HSBC is aligned to the bank’s strategic plan, which is indicated as ‘Managing for Growth’ (HSBC Group 2006). As a company that has undergone many mergers and acquisitions, HSBC’s IT utilisation enhances the group’s streamlining of information; in some cases, and depending on differences of information between a new entrant into the group and the existing system, HSBC can decide to adopt a new IT system. This happens especially when the technologies used by an acquired business are non-interoperable or outdated. In other cases, the group retains some of its legacy technology (Sang 2006). One of HSBC’s legacy products is the HSBC Hexagon, which according to Peffers and Tuunainen (n.d., p.20), “creates value that is not available to customers of other banks”. Specifically, Hexagon has international features which are not as easily accessible from other banks. Hexagon is however made possible by HSBC’s cutting-edge IT, which supports the global business. As has been noted by Peffers and Tuunainen (n.d.), one of the main reasons why HSBC did not suffer major losses during the financial crisis was its geographical variation. During the crisis, Doronina, Zaviriuka and Gromyko (2009) note that the Asian markets made huge contributions to the bank’s profitability. The profit contributions would probably have been unattainable had the bank not used IT to integrate its services across the world. IT use by itself was however not the solution that HSBC was seeking; rather, it was a tool that the firm sought to use with the support of its customers and technical experts. As Brady (2006) observes, HSBC engages contractors, business experts, and customers in relevant IT developments. Like Barclays Bank above, HSBC has adopted a risk management approach targeting its IT-related tasks and processes. Through proper risk identification, the bank has been able to plan for and mitigate any risks or threats that emerged in its IT execution (Sang 2006). In some cases however, Sang (2006) observes that HSBC has learnt from its own failures; eventually, HSBC has done away with silos and instead has organised its technology around the resources that different parties in the organisation share. Such an arrangement ensures that IT applications are developed for easy access of data, and for purposes of providing one consistent view of entire operations (Sang 2006). Arguably, the consistency in the arrangement and use of IT systems at HSBC has enhanced transparency for the bank, and this could have a positive effect on consumers’ perceptions about the quality of IT services offered by the bank. As indicated elsewhere in this report, consumers’ perceptions about the quality of products or services affect their satisfaction levels, which in turn have an effect on loyalty and firm performance. Analysis On the face of it, it would appear that IT utilisation by banks did not have a major role to play in the banks’ (especially Barclays and HSBC as discussed herein) ability to successfully navigate through the economic crisis. If one relates IT usage with customer satisfaction, confidence and loyalty towards the banks, then it would appear that IT utilisation at Barclays Bank did indeed help the bank to retain and even perhaps expand its customer base during the economic crisis. It could also be an indication that Barclays Bank’s IT-enabled services satisfy customers. The foregoing can be supported by findings by Gallup (cited by Jacobe 2012), which indicate that customers’ loyalty to a bank decline in line with corresponding decline in satisfaction from products or services offered. In HSBC’s case however, it appears that IT utilisation has enabled the bank to interconnect its different markets abroad, and during the financial crisis, such interconnectedness cushioned the badly hit markets by providing a leverage (in terms of profits) from other markets that did not suffer much from the financial crisis. As indicated in the data collection section above, the Asian markets turned up huge profits for HSBC even at a time when the economies in Europe and America were not performing well. From both Barclays and HSBC, there is arguably a reflection of transparency (or perceived transparency) and convenience. In Barclays’ case, it would appear that perceived transparency and simplicity (seen in the ease of access and use of IT-enabled services such as ATMs, customer care and others) enhanced the bank’s capabilities to retain its customers, some of whom had become loyal customers. As Cochrane, Spruit and Williams (2013) observe however, some banks are targeting the mass market with IT-enabled products and services, thus offering customers transparency and convenience. Considering its global reach (which incidentally Barclays has also, but which is not cited as having played a role in the bank’s successful navigation of the financial crisis), HSBC can be said to have succeeded in accessing the mass market in the UK and abroad with its IT-enabled products and services. Notably, HSBC has indicated that “international customers for whom developing markets connectivity is crucial” form one of its business models (HSBC Bank Plc 2010, p. 4). This statement supports the argument made above suggesting that the IT-enabled services offered by HSBC enabled the bank to navigate through the financial crisis because Asian markets made sizeable contributions to the bank. Arguably, the bank had already developed market connectivity through IT. Overall, it would appear that different banks benefit differently as a consequence of IT utilisation. Arguably, the manner in which a bank benefits (and even gains competitive advantage over other market players) is tied to each bank’s overall strategic plan, aims and objectives, which should ideally direct the kind and nature of IT investments made by an individual bank. Having noted the foregoing, it is important to acknowledge the limitations of this report, which relate to the fact that IT is just one aspect that contributes to firms’ performances. As such, there are other factors that may have contributed to Barclays’ and HSBC’s performances during the financial crisis, and which this report does not mention or acknowledge. Based on the nature of the primary data obtained for use in this report, the writer is further unable to verify the extent to which IT contributed to each firm’s performance during the financial crisis. 5.0. Conclusion/Recommendations According to a KPMG (2012) report, big banks in the UK (including Barclays and HSBC) continue redesigning their IT architectures. Additionally, the same banks are increasingly adopting new, cost-effective and simple IT systems in a bid to enhance the transparency of such systems. Yet, KPMG (2012) notes that a lot more needs to be done in order to enhance IT infrastructures in a bank, in a manner that will enable the details and/or reports generated by such systems to be transparent to the banks, their customers and the regulators. Barclays has identified technology risk as the “failure to develop and deploy secure, stable and reliable technology solutions” (Barclays 2012, p. 151). By mitigating all the aforementioned risks, Barclays seemingly was able to inspire confidence and satisfaction among its customers, something that probably positively affected the loyalty levels among its customer base. As a result, and as suggested by Barclays (2012), the bank did not have to put up with massive withdrawals or customers switching to competitor banks during the crisis. In the future therefore, this report would recommend that Barclays continues (and enhances) its identification of technology risks, because only such a measure would enable it to take adequate mitigation measures against threats. The same case would apply to HSBC, for which in the primary data gathered, there is no mention of how the bank manages its IT-related risks. Additionally, the two banks should ensure that their IT infrastructure and architecture enhance transparency, because as indicated elsewhere in this report, consumers’ perceptions about service quality are affected by their perceptions regarding the quality of IT-enabled services that a bank offers. 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