HSBC will stop serving mass-market individual customers and smaller businesses in the US, exiting the bulk of a retail business that has long struggled to compete with America’s big banks.

The bank said late on 26 May that it will sell 90 of its 148 branches in the US, and plans to wind down another 35 to 40. HSBC agreed to sell parts of its business to two US regional banks, Citizens Financial Group’s Citizens Bank and Cathay General Bancorp’s Cathay Bank.