HSBC appoints technology advisers to keep pace with IT changes

HSBC has named the global technologists and entrepreneurs who will make up an advisory board to help the UK bank take advantage of the latest technologies.

To support its IT strategy during a period of rapid digital transformation in banking – otherwise known as the fintech revolution – HSBC wants to tap into the knowledge of business leaders with experience of using technology to serve, protect and interact with customers better.

HSBC said the board would help it “take advantage of technologies such as artificial intelligence, biometrics, blockchain and data science”.

The bank also hopes to learn more about the opportunities arising from technologically-driven changes in customer behaviour, wants a better understanding of the use of biometrics for secure access to data and systems, and to receive advice on large-scale technology infrastructure transformation and platforms.

Banks envy companies in the IT sector, such as Google and eBay, for their massive computational processing power, high availabilty levels and vast customer interactions combined with use of the latest IT. HSBC aims to gain access to this knowledge and expertise through its technology board members.

Senior staff at tech companies such as e-commerce giant eBay, IT services firm Infosys and payments software maker Ripple are members of HSBC’s technology advisory board. The bank also has partnerships with IT research organisations.

HSBC global COO Andy Maguire, who will chair the advisory board, said: “The technology advisory board is key to helping us adopt technology that makes HSBC simpler, better and faster for our 46 million customers and 250,000 staff across our global network.

“We have made significant progress in the last couple of years, including more recently becoming the biggest financial services user of biometrics globally, through touch ID, voice ID and facial recognition, and through our participation in a first proof of concept of blockchain in  trade  finance.

“We have also established tech labs in the UK, India and Guangzhou (China) and signed partnerships with leading organisations including the Alan Turing Institute in London and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute.”

The HSBC technology advisory board also includes Mickey Boodaei, cyber security expert and CEO at Transmit Security; Chris Larsen, executive chairman and blockchain expert at Ripple; Kira Radinsky, eBay chief scientist and machine learning and data science expert; and Vishal Sikka, Infosys CEO and artificial intelligence expert.