The number of branches at Hong Kong's three note-issuing banks has dropped by 17 in less than a year, according to figures from the Monetary Authority.
The three banks had a total of 413 branches at the end of October, compared with 430 at the end of December last year. HSBC closed down six branches and had 120 left, while the Bank of China folded nine branches, leaving 214 in operation.
Standard Chartered Bank had 79 branches after closing two.
But the total number of ATMs of the three banks increased from 1,337 to 1,364. HSBC installed 19 more, for a total of 727, and Bank of China added seven to raise its total to 416. Standard Chartered installed one more for a total of 221.
League of Social Democrats lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip said in a Legislative Council meeting yesterday: 'These are note-issuing banks and we have a higher expectation from them when it comes to committing to social responsibility. We expect them to have more branches.'
But acting secretary for financial services Julia Leung Fung-yee said the branches and ATMs maintained by the three banks were able to meet the public's demand for banknotes.
