The review has led to it axing three customer magazines: Premier, its top-end global title, published in conjunction with Conde Nast, which goes out to 1m customers; its mid-level title, Meridian; and Your Money, which is sent to 7m current-account customers.
An HSBC spokeswoman confirmed the relationship with Conde Nast had been wound down, but said this did not mean the bank was shifting its focus away from customer publishing.
The bank is understood to be working on a range of replacement customer communication initiatives, one of which will be the launch of a publication in the next two months. It is not known whether HSBC will retain a relationship with Conde Nast for future projects.
The overhaul of HSBC's customer publishing business is the latest in a series of reviews within the bank's marketing communications department, which started with the £350m appointment of WPP last year to handle its global advertising.
HSBC reviewed its sports sponsorship portfolio last year, resulting in it ending its £15m annual sponsorship of the Jaguar Formula One team. The bank continues to use outdoor advertising at selected Grand Prix, however.
In January, HSBC moved up to £10m of its sponsorship budget into two golf events in the US and China. These are intended to complement its UK World Match Play Championship, giving it a global presence in the sport (Marketing, 26 January).
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