HSBC to Take on Wise with Launch of Money Transfer App

HSBC is looking to take on money transfer behemoth Wise with the launch of a global currency conversion app.

The Zing app 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, said, "It's a bold move for us. This is HSBC playing outside of its traditional perimeter of customers, and really attacking 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 its 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."

(Source: Finextra)