One lucrative local market targeted by large outside banks
is the state’s expanding international business. At a time when many banks are
reducing operations to address financial difficulties, HSBC, which is the
world’s largest bank in terms of assets and revenues, with operations in 87
countries, has recently opened branches in Redmond, Mercer Island, Seattle and
Bellevue.
“We’ve identified Seattle as a strategic area for HSBC. It
has a lot of international connectivity,” says Ron Martinez, HSBC’s senior vice
president and executive for Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.
Martinez points to the large number of foreign-born residents in the region as
well as the many companies that already have international operations or plans
to establish operations overseas. The bank offers a broad range of services
aimed at international customers including one that allows them to move their
money easily among accounts in different countries using advantageous currency
exchange rates, while having the transferred funds instantly available.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., which acquired the assets of
Washington Mutual, is hiring personnel to build up its strength in commercial
lending, an area in which WaMu was not a significant player. “Everybody wants to target the non-real
estate sector because you can do a lot of things for those customers,” says
Curt Fraser, Chase’s president of middle-market banking. “But some banks aren’t
accustomed to it. You have to block and tackle every day.”
Fraser says Chase has an important advantage
in targeting midsize companies because so many of them are expanding overseas
and Chase has people in its overseas operations who are exclusively assigned to
helping midsize companies with the wide range of banking requirements involved
in operating internationally.
Related: Where Credit Is Due: The rise of credit unions.
Back to main story: Under Siege.