HSBC launched a new product called Zing focused on international transfers to better compete with fintech companies such as Wise (formerly TransferWise) and Revolut.
Bloomberg wrote that the application is App Store and Play Store. Being available, you can take a look at what HSBC offers and if it really is a competitive service. Zing is completely separate from HSBC's existing banking products. An HSBC bank account is not required to use Zing.
Zing also has a completely different approach to forex as it is relatively transparent when it comes to fees. The exchange rate and conversion fees can be viewed at any time in the app or on the Zing website.
As Wise CEO Kristo Käärmann says published in X, is a departure from HSBC's usual banking products, as the company has a bad habit of including hidden exchange margins when converting money from one currency to another. "Today HSBC charges its own customers 3,7% in hidden exchange margins for 'free' transfers in euros,” Käärmann wrote.
Currently, Zing customers can have money in their account in 10 different currencies: GBP, EUR, SGD, USD, CAD, JPY, NZD, HKD, AUD and AED. However, Zing is currently limited to clients living in the UK.
When you open an account, you can top up your GBP wallet with open banking, a bank transfer or a debit card payment. EUR wallets also come with banking details, meaning Zing customers can receive SEPA payments directly to their EUR wallet. This will be useful for Brits working in Europe on a temporary or permanent basis.
On this front, Wise's offering is much better as customers can get local banking details to receive money from other people (or yourself) from a dozen countries.
This has also been a key advantage over Revolut, as the company only offers banking information in its local country. “As an existing customer, if your new country of residence has a Revolut branch, you will need to close your account and reopen it as a new one if you want to have a local IBAN for that country,” Revolut says in its support document.
When it comes to sending money, Zing has dozens of coins, more coins than the 10 mentioned above. You enter the recipient's banking information and then you can send money to each other in their local currency.
Finally, when it comes to the exchange rate, Zing is indeed cheaper than HSBC. When you convert GBP to EUR, Zing charges 0,6% in exchange fees. Wise charges around 0,45%.
Revolut is a little different as their fees can vary depending on your subscription plan. The company charges a 1% fee after an exchange limit of £1000 per month for free accounts. Plus accounts can exchange up to £3000 per month with no exchange fees. After that, they are charged 0,5%.
Premium, Metal and Ultra customers pay no switching fees, but pay between £7,99 and £45 per month in subscription fees. It's also worth noting that Revolut charges a 1% margin fee in foreign currency during the weekends, regardless of your plan.
Zing charges different fees for other currencies. For example, the USD to GBP exchange fee is also 0,6%, but the company charges 0,75% for USD to EUR transfers.
With Zing everything is focused on that exchange fee. Almost everything else is included. Incoming bank payments are free and outgoing bank transfers cost nothing other than the conversion fee.
For example, if you use Wise to convert USD to EUR, you only pay 0,552% in conversion fees, but there are additional fees for incoming ACH or USD bank transfers.
Zing customers also get a Visa debit card that they can use with any currency wallet. As long as you have money in that wallet, there is no charge for card payments. However, if Zing has to convert money from another wallet because the balance in the local wallet is insufficient, the company will add a 1% currency conversion fee on top of the Visa exchange rate. In that scenario, Zing is quite expensive.
Overall, Zing is a compelling alternative to Wise. In some cases, it will be a little more expensive than Wise. In other cases, it could be the opposite. Of course, it will be important to see if HSBC plans to keep these low foreign exchange fees in the long term or if they are just introductory rates.
For now, Zing's coverage is quite limited as only people living in the UK can use it. But immigrants and frequent travelers will appreciate that there is a new contender in this space.
