AI Boosts HSBC Card Spend by 15%

How HSBC leveraged AI to optimize credit limits and drive customer engagement without increasing risk.

Author

Tiger AI
June 17, 2025

AI of the Tiger Newsletter

AI OF THE TIGER

June 17, 2025
Financial Services & Banking Focus

HSBC's AI-Powered Credit Card Optimization

TL;DR:HSBC partnered with FICO to deploy AI-powered credit limit optimization, delivering a 15% uplift in monthly card spend while keeping bad debt flat.

🏦 AI In Action

🔍 Business Problem

HSBC faced declining credit card engagement and needed to boost customer spending and card usage. Traditional, rules-based credit limit management was slow to adapt to changing customer behavior and market conditions. The bank sought to personalize credit limit increases for millions of customers while maintaining risk controls and regulatory compliance.

💡 AI Solution

HSBC implemented FICO's AI-powered Customer Communication Service (CCS) and credit limit optimization platform. The solution uses advanced machine learning and mathematical optimization to tailor credit limits to individual customer profiles. AI replaced manual and A/B testing approaches, enabling rapid, data-driven decision-making at scale.

⚙️ Technology Details

Technology stack: FICO® Platform (AI, optimization, ML), Xpress Optimization Suite, real-time decision engine, secure cloud-based deployment. Integrated with HSBC's existing data systems for seamless, real-time credit management. Explainable AI models ensure transparency and regulatory compliance.

🧩 Implementation Challenges

Integrating FICO's platform with HSBC's legacy credit management systems. Ensuring high-quality, consistent data across all customer touchpoints. Aligning AI-driven decisions with UK and international banking regulations. Managing organizational change from manual to AI-driven credit management.

📈 Business Impact

15% increase in monthly credit card spend among customers receiving AI-optimized credit line increases. Significant improvement in active card use rates and overall customer engagement. Increased share of wallet—customers used HSBC cards more frequently. No increase in bad debt, demonstrating responsible AI-driven lending. Recognition: 2024 FICO Decisions Award for AI, Machine Learning & Optimization; 2025 FStech Award for Best Use of Data Analytics.

📚 Lessons Learned

Personalization via AI delivers measurable value without increasing risk. AI-driven optimization outperforms manual and rules-based approaches. High-quality data infrastructure is critical for AI success. Responsible AI can drive growth while maintaining risk controls. Continuous optimization and rapid strategy adjustment provide a competitive edge.

🔮 Leadership Insights

"With FICO optimization, we can adjust credit limits to each customer's risk, reward and engagement levels, and manage them with scientific precision, at speed, as our strategy and the economic climate change." — Mike Roberts, Head of Unsecured Retail Risk, HSBC UK
"The ability to test vast decision strategy possibilities, inter-relationships and subsequent permutations in volumes and scenarios is way beyond the capacity of the human brain to calculate. At the same time, we are executing explainable decision strategies that provide the visibility and certainty to know that we are doing the right thing for customers." — Mike Roberts, Head of Unsecured Retail Risk, HSBC UK
"HSBC's use of AI-powered optimization is a model for how banks can use advanced analytics to drive both customer engagement and responsible growth." — Will Lansing, CEO, FICO

Sources: FICO Newsroom, FICO Blog, FFNews, Business Wire

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