By 1959, through a series of mergers and divisions, its name had been shortened to 'Mercantile Bank, Ltd', and was acquired by HSBC the same year.

[8] The bank expanded its presence with branches across India, the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States, and in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

[9][10] Trouble in 1893 meant it lost its charter, and was reconstituted as the Mercantile Bank of India Ltd.

There was a re-consolidation of its operations at the beginning of the 20th century; and in 1912 it again became an issuer of Hong Kong banknotes, a privilege it retained until 1974.

[14] The signing of the historic Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984, provided HSBC added impetus to expand overseas and sold the entity - Mercantile Bank, Ltd to Citibank the same year as part of its consolidation strategy.