Covid-19 Information

In light of the rapidly evolving coronavirus situation, we strive to continue to maintain the best quality banking service in these exceptional circumstances, while taking suitable precautionary measures to safeguard the health and safety of both our employees and customers.

Ways to bank

There are a number of ways you can do your banking without leaving your home.

Customers are encouraged to use HSBCnet or the HSBCnet Mobile App which are designed to securely manage your transactions. Alternatively, our Relationship Managers are equipped to work from home using our secure systems and can be contacted via telephone or email.

Beware of increased risk of fraud

Some criminals are using the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to scam the public. This includes offering medical products, guidance or a safe haven for money. Remember, HSBC will never ask you to move money to a safe account.

Be wary of any requests (via email, phone or otherwise) to change beneficiary banking details or send a payment to a new beneficiary. The request may be an attempt to divert funds to a fraudulent account.

Fraudulent requests may be disguised as originating from a supplier and ask that you change the supplier’s bank account information.

As a precaution, always take the extra step of checking directly with your supplier through an alternative communication method outside of the email environment, such as a phone call to a trusted source in their company, to confirm that the change request is genuine.

In some cases, the fraudulent request to change supplier information or make a payment to an unfamiliar account supposedly comes from your organisation’s CEO, President or other administrator.

When reviewing any type of payment instructions from an internal source, ensure the request uses your organisation’s official channels and follows authorised processes and procedures.

Fraudsters may contact you pretending to be from an institution you deal with (such as HSBC), an organisation of authority, a vendor/supplier, or even an individual within your company. They could direct you to perform actions that will allow them to send unauthorised payments from your account. This can include providing numbers displayed on your Security Device or pushing the yellow button.

• HSBC will never request information that could be used to make a payment (such as account numbers, passwords, security device details other than the serial number on the back, etc).
• Under no circumstances will HSBC ever ask you to divulge any of your security details over the phone, by text message or via e-mail.

Please remain vigilant and stay up to date with the latest information on our security page.

Five ways your business can respond

The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) impacts many businesses. In a fast-changing situation, it’s important to have a plan in place. Here are our five suggestions, providing a guide for your firm.

1. Look after employees and their families
• In an effort to halt contagion, employees in affected countries have been unable to work from their regular workplace.
• Ensure you can contact your staff and share information at short notice. Have a business continuity plan which enables remote working.
• Consider technology to enable this, such as video conferencing, through company or personal computers.
• If necessary, split teams across multiple sites or rotate office-based staff with those working remotely.
• Follow World Health Organisation, governmental and public health official updates - and keep employees updated.

2. Review your supply chain
• Following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, global car manufacturers discovered a significant supplier dependency when one company producing 40% of the world’s microcontrollers had to close a plant.
• You can unearth hidden dependencies through reviewing your supply chain from end to end, identifying your suppliers’ supply source down to component level and understanding who your customers sell onto.
• Undertake a risk assessment of contractual commitments and potential use of clauses relating to unforeseeable circumstances, by you or by your buyers and suppliers.
• Identify and connect with alternative supply options, right down to the component level.

3. Logistics and distribution
• Enforced office or factory closures and disruption to transport services – including roads, ports and loading facilities – could impact on goods being delivered and documents being processed on time.
• Map your dependencies, ensure you have visibility and a plan for disruptions – for example, using air freight in the event shipping is restricted.
• Anticipate disruption to service providers – from legal services to customs checks.
• Consider implications right across your operations - from sourcing to production to distribution.

4. Build resilience
• Replicate this exercise to plan for other potential disruptions – such as natural disasters, political instability or cyber-attack.
• Develop response protocols and internal chains of command for each scenario.
• Contingency planning for different scenarios will stand any business in good stead.

5. Manage financial risks
• Prepare for changes in market conditions including demand, price, and foreign exchange volatility.
• Stress test your working capital, as flows of goods and services are interrupted and consider any support you may offer your suppliers.
• Where necessary, build your inventory selectively and consider insurance requirements if interruptions occur.
• Speak to your bank about immediate support and building resilience against potential disruption.

Remote working

As the impact of the coronavirus changes the ways we are working we need to be mindful of the risks this introduces. To help you, your employees and your business stay protected please read the below guidelines.

• Don’t hold business conversations in public which may be overheard; and
• Don’t leave sensitive documents, laptops or corporate mobiles unattended.

Contact us to discuss your situation

We are closely monitoring the situation around the spread of COVID-19 and considering the impacts that this is likely to have on a number of our customers and staff.

All customers who feel they would need support are kindly asked to contact their Relationship Manager. 

We appreciate that our customers have their specific circumstances, and respective measures will be considered individually on a case-by-case basis.