HSBC is looking to take on money transfer behemoth Wise with the launch of a global currency conversion app.
The Zing app and accompanying debit card will be launched initially in the UK before a progressive roll out to other destinations worldwide, according to an advanced report from Bloomberg.
Nuno Matos, chief executive officer of the lender’s global wealth and personal banking business, told the newsire: “It’s 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.”
The app will be available on Apple Inc.’s Appstore and Alphabet Inc.’s Google Play platform within days and, unlike the bank's current fee-free Global Money service, will be open to non-HSBC customers.
“Zing has a global ambition,” Matos said in an interview. “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 in EU markets.”
Zing was founded by the bank's head of FX and payments James Allan and has been registered as an e-money institution.
Responding to a request for more information, HSBC released the following statement: “At launch, Zing members can hold 10 different currencies in the app, providing the ability to lock in conversion rates and spend like a local without point-of-sale conversion fees in those currencies.
“Zing also enables members to send money internationally across more than 30 currencies, and spend across the globe.”