Customers of HSBC in Wales may soon be able to ask for a loan in their native language after the global bank announced that it was offering Welsh lessons to branch staff in the country.
More than 50 branch staff have volunteered to take lessons in the language, including online instruction and live tutorials with fluent Welsh-speakers.
The 45 surviving HSBC branches might soon be abuzz with expressions such as: “Rydych chi wedi mynd y tu hwnt i’ch terfyn gorddrafft” (“You’ve exceeded your overdraft limit”).
We have a long, proud history of providing banking services in Wales and in Welsh dating back to the 1760s and we were even the first bank to offer a Welsh-language credit card.
Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK’s head of branches.
HSBC’s roots in Wales go back to at least 1762, when the Banc y Llong (Ship Bank) was founded in Aberystwyth. It was later absorbed by Midland Bank, which HSBC bought in 1992.
However, HSBC has no plans to expand the scheme to Gaelic-speakers in Scotland or to Cornish-speakers.