Britain, UK news from The Times and The Sunday Times – Times Online

By Helen Nugent and Ben Hoyle

DON’T blame it on the sunshine, don’t blame it on the moonlight, don’t blame it on the good times — blame it on the size of your overdraft limit.

A visit to the bank will not necessarily be a happier experience in the future for HSBC customers, but it will certainly be a less-muted affair after the company disclosed yesterday that it plans to play music to them while they stand in the queue waiting to be served.

The bank shrugged off suggestions from consumer groups that it was hiring DJs as a gimmick to distract customers from slow service. Indeed, breaking with the traditionally sombre atmosphere of high street banking had proven benefits for customers and cashier staff, reducing boredom and creating an upbeat atmosphere.

After pilot schemes in 50 branches, carried out over the past six months, the bank plans to introduce the scheme to a further 350 of its busiest sites across the country.

Within a year, clients at 400 HSBC branches will hear a mixture of popular music, news bulletins, weather forecasts, chat and phone-ins as they queue.

A spokeswoman for HSBC said: It s a way to tell our customers about what we are offering that week. Our staff in the branches where we have trialled the service say it creates an upbeat atmosphere, and when customers are talking to them about private matters, it creates background noise so they can t be overheard.

She added that the in-store radio station had proved popular with customers in trials by reducing boredom. Of those people questioned, half said that they liked the service. The remainder said that they had not noticed a difference. The bank has signed a contract with Immedia Broadcasting, set up by the former BBC Radio 1 DJ Bruno Brookes in 2001, for the station called HSBC Live.

HSBC Live will be produced from Immedia s studios in Newbury, Berkshire, which also operates the Impulse Live station, which is broadcast to stores such as Texaco, Londis and Spar. The company announced a deal this year with the confectionery group Nestl to advertise its products on its network.

Mr Brookes said: The live radio station has now been trialled very successfully for a few months, illustrating that live radio is powerful in engaging staff and customers.

The Independent Banking Advisory Service (Ibas), a consumer watchdog, questioned whether the move was to cover up for bad service and suggested that HSBC do more to eliminate queues. Last month a number of customers complained to Sir John Banham, the HSBC chairman, at the annual meeting of the bank about its lack of staff and long queues at branches, particularly during lunchtimes.

Eddy Weatherill, a spokesman for Ibas, said: One wonders whether (the radio station) is a ploy. At the end of the day, HSBC is expecting people to be waiting.

HSBC rejected such a suggestion and pointed out that 1,000 people were being recruited this year to staff its cashiers desks and deal with customers.

While banking staff reported a more cheerful atmosphere in the areas where the system has been tried out, there have been no outbreaks so far of the dole queue dancing seen in the hit film The Full Monty.

One customer said: I wouldn t mind listening to Hot Stuff while I m cashing a cheque but I hope no one goes as far as doing a full monty.