HSBC Set to Launch International Payments App, Zing

HSBC’s CEO of Wealth and Personal Banking, Nuno Matos, says the financial organisation aims to “attack” the fintech market with the launch of its new FX payments app, Zing. 

The move to launch Zing poses a direct challenge to the likes of Wise, Revolut and Monzo, all of which have amassed significant customer bases by offering cheap foreign exchange rates. 

Initially launching in the UK, Zing will soon be available on Apple’s App Store and Alphabet Inc.'s Google Pay, with the app set to roll out in other markets across the world in the coming months. 

Zing: HSBC’s answer to modern international payments

Expected to be made available any day now, Zing will be accessible to everyone, not just HSBC’s existing customers. 

Speaking on the launch of Zing, HSBC CEO Matos says: “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, in the Middle East and EU markets.

The move represents HSBC’s attempt to claw back customer acquisition and retention rates amid the growing popularity of neobanks and FX payments providers. 

In this month’s edition (January 2024) of FinTech Magazine, we asked how legacy institutions might react in 2024 to the growing popularity of challenger banks and digital financial services organisatons. 

Now, it seems HSBC is among the first global banking giants to take notable action so far this year.

Of course, HSBC has already taken steps to match fintech-enabled challengers with the launch of its Global Money product in 2020. 

Global Money offers customers free currency services, but the difference now is Zing is available to everyone, marking a step up in HSBC’s efforts to catch up to challengers in today’s digital banking arms race. 

The hope for HSBC is that those using Zing will be enticed into using the bank's broader financial service offerings. 

As Matos concludes: “[Zing is] a bold move for us. This is HSBC playing outside of its traditional perimeter of customers, and really attacking, if you want, of taking advantage of a contingent, which is big, is growing, looks like us, and it’s here for us.”

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