The HSBC branch in St Julian’s has been put up for sale, less than a fortnight after the bank announced eight branches will shut down by the end of the year.
The decision to sell a prime site property raised eyebrows and took many by surprise as it was refurbished just at the beginning of the year, sources within the bank told Times of Malta.
Plans for the bank to downsize its presence in Malta were divulged on October 10, through an announcement on the Malta Stock Exchange.
The move, which comprised closing down branches in Birżebbuġa, Balzan, Cospicua, Fgura, Ħamrun, Marsascala, St Julian’s and St Paul’s Bay, was justified on the grounds that the bank was focusing on “digital services” while modernising its branch network.
In the case of St Julian’s, the bank announced its intention to sell the property through a request for proposals published by Frank Salt Real Estate in a newspaper advert last Sunday.
Located in St George’s Road, corner with Triq il-Qaliet, the building has a footprint of 250 square metres “in a prime location overlooking Spinola Palace and Gardens, just one minute walk from Spinola Bay and Portomaso Marina”.
Moreover, the property is being advertised as a “superb site” for a landmark building.
The call closes on Friday.
Asked for the reason why HSBC wanted to close down and sell the branch, just months after refurbishing it, a bank spokesman said this was in line with the recently announced strategic plan to align “the bank’s high level of service with customer banking patterns” which, he said, were increasingly shifting towards digital solutions.
However, the spokesman declined to comment when asked if HSBC intended to sell the other seven branches it plans to close down.
Meanwhile, a number of HSBC ATMs around the island have been recently removed. The matter was flagged to Times of Malta by several customers who discovered that cash machines in Iklin, Fleur-de-Lys and Birkirkara (close to the St Helen’s parish church) were no longer there.
While HSBC declined to say if any other ATMs would be removed, the spokesman said customers should periodically check on the bank’s website to find the closest machine.
He added that ATM locations were identified on the basis of a continuous review aimed to optimise services in response to customer usage trends. The bank had, in fact, recently installed a new ATM in Siġġiewi.
The spokesman reiterated the bank’s “commitment” to have an ATM and deposit machines in those localities where branches were being closed.
The recent decision to close down branches prompted criticism from bank customers, particularly the elderly, who still rely heavily on traditional services such as cashiers, rather than modern means like ATMs.
The Nationalist Party expressed concern that the closures were testament to the fact that something was “very wrong” in the local banking sector.
The comment was made in the wake of the revocation of Pilatus Bank licence and the takeover of Satabank by the regulator over breaches to money laundering laws.
In the case of HSBC, the recent announcement also rekindled the controversy over the decision by the PN-led government in 1999, to privatise Mid-Med Bank.
The Labour Party had criticised the deal on grounds that Mid-Med had been sold to HSBC at “a pittance”.