The new app will allow customers to hold money in 10 different currencies, spend money abroad and make international transfers across more than 30 currencies, providing low-cost foreign exchange services to retail consumers
HSBC to roll out Zing payments app and card. (Credit: NordWood Themes on Unsplash)
UK-based lender HSBC is reportedly planning to roll out a global, multi-currency payment app, dubbed Zing, and an accompanying debit card.
The new solution will allow customers to hold money in 10 different currencies, spend money abroad and make international transfers across more than 30 currencies.
By providing foreign exchange services to retail consumers at low cost, HSBC aims to compete with its fast-growing rival digital payment providers such as Revolut and Wise.
The Zing app will be initially offered in Great Britain, with plans to expand the offering to other countries in the coming few months to capture the growing market for wealthier consumers.
Zing CEO James Allan said: “Now is the time for a new kind of international payments solution; one that combines cutting-edge innovation with the support of an experienced global bank.”
In 2020, HSBC rolled out a payment app, dubbed Global Money, which provides free-of-cost currency exchange service to the bank’s customers.
Global Money app processed international transactions worth around $11bn in 2022.
Unlike Global Money, the new Zing app will be offered to non-HSBC users and will be available for users to download from the Apple and Google app stores.
Registered as an e-money institution rather than a bank, Zing will be regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Also, Zing will help the British lender to extend its reach in global money transfer and retail payments markets and onboard more customers for its traditional banking services.
HSBC wealth and personal banking CEO Nuno Matos, in an interview, said: “Zing has a global ambition. We want to establish ourselves as a global platform for international payments, which ties perfectly with our international payments strategy for HSBC, and you should see us very soon in Asia, the Middle East and the EU markets.
“It’s a bold move for us. This is HSBC playing outside of its traditional perimeter of customers, and attacking, if you want, of taking advantage of a contingent, which is big, is growing, looks like us, and it’s here for us.”