Case Study: HSBC achieves automated cashflow insights and HMRC-aligned transaction categorization for small businesses with Strands' Kinetic

A Strands Case Study

HSBC’s Transformation as a Bank for Small Businesses

HSBC partnered with Strands to build Kinetic, a machine-learning driven business financial management (BFM) platform (products: BFM + Engager) to serve UK small businesses. After speaking with 3,000 businesses and finding 70% were managing finances manually in Excel, HSBC needed to consolidate transaction and accounting data to become a trusted financial advisor and simplify bookkeeping for SME customers.

Working with Strands, HSBC implemented Kinetic with on‑premise deployment (2020), integrating external accounting data (e.g., Xero) and a Strands-powered transaction categorization engine aligned to HMRC. The solution delivers automated onboarding, in-app overdrafts, controllable debit cards, budgeting and cashflow analytics, saving customers days each month reconciling spending and providing clear monthly category breakdowns — demonstrating measurable time savings and improved financial visibility thanks to Strands.

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