HSBC has just launched a new product called Zing focused on international transport to better compete with fintech companies such as Wise (formerly TransferWise) and Revolut.
Bloomberg He wrote that the app was on its way to the App Store and Play Store a few days ago. Now it’s officially launched, so let’s take a look at what HSBC has to offer and if it’s really a competitive service. Zing is completely separate from HSBC’s existing banking products. You don’t need an HSBC bank account to use Zing.
Zing also has a completely different approach to forex, being relatively transparent about fees. You can see the exchange rate and conversion fees at any time in the app or on Zing’s website.
As CEO of Wise, Kristo Käärmann marked in X, is a departure from HSBC’s normal banking products, as the company has a bad habit of including hidden currency markups when converting money from one currency to another. “Today HSBC charges its own customers 3.7% in hidden FX markups for ‘free’ euro transfers,” Käärmann wrote.
Zing customers can currently hold funds in their account in ten different currencies — GBP, EUR, SGD, USD, CAD, JPY, NZD, HKD, AUD and AED. However, Zing is currently limited to customers living in the UK
When they open an account, they can top up their GBP wallet by open bank, bank transfer or debit card payment. EUR wallets also come with bank details, meaning Zing customers can receive SEPA payments directly into their EUR wallet. This will be useful for Britons working in Europe temporarily or permanently.
On this front, Wise’s offering is much better as customers can get their local bank details to receive money from other people (or yourself) from a dozen countries.
This was also a key advantage over Revolut, as the company only offers banking information in your 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 documents.
When it comes to sending money, Zing supports dozens of coins — more coins than the ten I mentioned above. Enter your recipient’s bank details and then you can send them money in their local currency.
Finally, in terms of exchange rate, Zing is indeed cheaper than HSBC. When you convert GBP to EUR, Zing charges 0.6% in exchange fees. Wise charges about 0.45% for the same runway.
Revolut is a little different as your fees may vary depending on your membership plan. The company charges 1% in fees after an exchange limit of £1,000 per month for free accounts. Plus accounts can exchange up to £3,000 per month without exchange fees. After that they charge 0.5%.
Premium, Metal and Ultra customers pay no exchange fees, but pay £7.99 to £45 a month in subscriptions. It’s also worth noting that Revolut charges 1% markup fee. in exchange on weekends — regardless of your plan.
Zing charges different fees for other currencies. For example, the exchange fee for USD to GBP is also 0.6%, but the company charges 0.75% for USD to EUR transfers.
What I like about Zing’s fee is that you have to focus mainly on this interchange fee. Almost everything else is included differently. 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’ll only pay 0.552% in conversion fees, but there are additional fees for incoming ACH or wire transfers in USD.
Zing customers also receive a Visa debit card that they can use with any coin wallet. As long as you have funds in this wallet, there is no fee for card payments. However, if Zing needs to convert money from another wallet because your local wallet balance is insufficient, the company will add a 1% currency conversion fee on top of Visa’s exchange rate. In this scenario, Zing is quite expensive.
Overall, Zing is a compelling alternative to Wise. In some cases, it will be a bit more expensive than Wise. In other cases, this may be the opposite. Of course, it will be important to see if HSBC intends to maintain these low FX fees in the long term or if these are just introductory rates.
Currently, Zing’s coverage is quite limited as only people living in the UK can use it. But expats and frequent travelers will appreciate that there’s a new contender on the scene.
