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Merrill, HSBC launch UK net
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May 8, 2001: 7:18 a.m. ET
Financial Web portal targets 'mass affluent' but lowers entry level
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LONDON (CNN) - HSBC and Merrill Lynch have launched their delayed online banking and investment joint venture in the UK.
MLHSBC.com has been held up by its technical complexity while changing market conditions have forced it to lower its sights, from individuals with at least £60,000 ($86,300) to invest, to ones with £10,000 ($14,400).
Chief Executive Margaret Barrett told CNN that investors were also being lured by free trading in UK and U.S. shares until the end of October.
The joint venture was announced last April and Canadian and Australian services were rolled out in December. The UK launch should have happened by the end of last month, but subscribers have been limited to access to research reports.
The upgraded service will allow clients to buy and sell shares, hold accounts in different currencies and have a cheque book and debit card.
The service "is powered by two of the most trusted brands in the industry. We can take advantage of the resources of Merrill Lynch and HSBC, most notably in the institutional quality of the research that is now available for the first time to retail investors," said Barrett.
"This is the first integrated banking and investment global offer online."
But the tide may already have turned against global financial portals targeting the "mass affluent." Personal wealth has been hit by the falls in stock markets and online trading volumes are down.
In March, Swiss bank Vontobel scrapped its  111 million ($99 million) y-o-u.com online banking project before it had even launched, Dutch bank ABN Amro abandoned plans to work with telco KPN on another Net banking venture called Money Planet. A global financial portal from Credit Suisse First Boston has been in development for nearly a year. 
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