🇻🇪 Jose G. Ortega Castro 🇲🇽
HSBC Holdings Plc is gearing up to launch Zing, an international payments app set to rival fintech giants such as Revolut and Wise Plc by appealing to a broad base of retail customers with competitive foreign exchange rates. Initially launching in the UK, Europe’s largest bank aims to expand Zing into additional markets shortly, targeting affluent consumers.
Nuno Matos, the chief executive officer of HSBC’s global wealth and personal banking business, announced that Zing, which supports HSBC’s global international payments strategy, will soon be available on both Apple’s Appstore and Google Play and is accessible to non-HSBC users as well. The app is part of a broader initiative by the bank to penetrate the global retail payments market vigorously.
This strategic move represents larger financial institutions’ efforts to stake a claim in a market traditionally dominated by nimble fintech startups that have offered a range of mobile financial services, including cross-border payments and savings accounts.
The launch comes as HSBC’s existing service, Global Money, has already seen significant uptake with transactions totaling about $11 billion in 2022.
With Zing, HSBC is not only aiming to attract new users to its ecosystem but also to solidify its position as the premier bank for customers with international lifestyles.
Matos expressed that this launch signifies HSBC’s venture beyond its usual customer base and an aggressive step into a burgeoning market segment.
