Sibos 2024 day 3: What you need to know

On day three of the landmark Sibos 2024 conference in Beijing, HSBC’s thought leaders have again been central to the debate. Ideas about emerging technology, from digital money to GenAI and distributed ledger collaborations, have been at the forefront.

The future of digital money

Lewis Sun, Head of Domestic and Emerging Payments, Global Payments Solutions, took part in a panel called Digital money is growing up – now what? He traced the evolution from paper to electronic and then digital money, to its next iteration: smart or intelligent money.

Blockchain technology, he said, would allow participants to put conditions into payments using smart contracts, “making money programmable.”

Lewis spoke of HSBC initiatives including the Orion digital asset issuance platform, and a gold token service now open to all consumers in Hong Kong.

A key issue for further development is IT infrastructure. “Our approach is all around client experience. Then we need to deliver on the challenge of infrastructure” to enable it, he said.

What GenAI means for financial services

Melissa Tuozzolo, Global Head of Client Service, Global Payments Solutions, delivered on-the-ground insights on the role of GenAI in financial services.

“There is a misconception that you put GenAI out there and it makes everything work: it will clean up your procedures,” she said. “That’s not the case. Where we’re seeing it’s not good, it’s not because of technology but because our policies and procedures are not up to date. It’s been an interesting learning for us.”

Melissa cited concerns about whether GenAI would take jobs. “We are not looking for AI to replace people. I want it to enhance what our people can do,” she said. “I want it to take away the mundane tasks so people can do more value-accretive work with clients.”

Building on the Dowsure collaboration

HSBC plans to expand the trade financing solutions it offers to businesses trading on ecommerce platforms in mainland China and Hong Kong, building upon the launch of its collaboration with Dowsure Technologies.

Dowsure is a Shenzhen-based cross-border e-commerce platform and one of Amazon’s Seller Lending Programme Partners. Through the seamless integration of Dowsure’s e-commerce data solution with HSBC’s banking solutions, the partnership has benefitted SMEs who face challenges in securing trade finance.

Aditya Gahlaut, Regional Co-Head, Global Trade Solutions, APAC, called the collaboration “a pivotal step in our journey to offer seamless trade financing solutions for businesses.”

TMI “Live from Sibos” Podcast

In this podcast, Fiona Horsewill, Global Head of Securities Services, Vivek Ramachandran, Head of Global Trade Solutions, and Manish Kohli, Head of Global Payments Solutions, discussed the impact of global trends on their businesses. Look out for the podcast in the days ahead by looking for HSBC Global Viewpoint on Apple podcast or Spotify.

“We're on the cusp of some significant change,” said Fiona. “I'm expecting within the next five years to see a massive change in the operating model, transaction execution, and value chain.”

Manish said Sibos served as a reminder that “this is a very important moment for all of us in banking.” Conventional banking has moved away from supporting clients with basic lending and safe-keeping services to “a stage where we are playing a very large role in the growth and transformation journeys of our clients,” he said.

Vivek captured the mood of the event and the moment. “Hopefully from all of us you’re getting a sense of excitement about the future,” he said. “For me, the future of finance is digital, it’s embedded and it’s sustainable.”

Look out for our final day wrap-up tomorrow.