Industry Financial services Company As an acknowledged leader in modern banking technology, HSBC Malaysia has spearheaded the country's banking industry into the electronic age with many innovations. Employees 5,000 in Malaysia, 85,000 in Asia-Pacific IT staff About 150 Annual IT Budget More than US$30 million

This ensures the IT organization continues to improve its competitiveness in areas such as quality and the effectiveness of services. It also aims to reduce service cost to the customer groups by 10 percent each year.

One major IT initiative undertaken by HSBC last year was the introduction of HSBC SecurePay, an added security feature for online transactions with HSBC credit cards. Powered by MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa, HSBC SecurePay provides an extra level of protection and security for online shopping.

Previously, anyone who got hold of another person's credit card could perform an online transaction by keying in all the required information available on the credit card, according to U Chen Hock, HSBC's general manager of personal financial services.

With HSBC SecurePay, a cardholder is required to key in their HSBC SecurePay password and verify the authentication of the transaction screen through a personal message, before completing an online purchase, he said in a statement last July.

In addition, the bank has introduced a number of innovative products with Web-enabled service applications, end-to-end processing of customer product applications, and enhanced risk management tools. This involves enhanced functionalities for better customer relationship management, telesales capabilities, and customer and marketing analytics.

The company's IT budget was about US$32.2 million in 2005, and rose to US$40.5 million this year.

With security topping the list of concerns involving Internet banking transactions, HSBC is making no compromises to beef up security for customers. For instance, the IT organization has clearly defined procedures and controls to manage and respond to any attempt to compromise our security.

More than just putting in place technology safeguards, HSBC also mitigates security risks by instilling security awareness, discipline and integrity cultivation among employees, customers and business partners.

In the last few years, HSBC Malaysia has bagged several awards including the Asia Pacific ICT Award in Bangkok and the eASIA award in Taiwan.