HSBC is boosting the banking trend back towards local decision-making for business customers by opening 214 ''commercial centres'', including three in Scotland, which are empowered to make individual lending decisions of up to (pounds) 1m.
The centres' dedicated managers will spend three out of every five days on the road meeting customers at their own premises, which the bank says will help them make more informed assessments of customer needs and the local business environment.
The initiative follows the opening last January by HSBC of corporate banking centres, which also included three in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, catering for large corporates (turnover of more than (pounds) 25m per year).
The bank says the extension to other business customers ''represents the next step in HSBC's commitment to locating senior bankers regionally and giving them the authority to make major lending decisions without referring to head office''.
HSBC says it is acting on research which showed ''local relationship management is just as important to business customers in Scotland as the ability to lend quickly, appropriately and efficiently''.
In total, HSBC plans to increase the number of dedicated UK local business bankers by 11% to more than 1280 as part of a five-year (pounds) 1.4bn investment in customer service initiatives.
The centres' senior managers will typically spend at least four years in the role in order to build long-term relationships with clients.
Jon Hartley, HSBC area director for the three Scottish centres, said nine out of 10 lending decisions will now be made locally.
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