HSBC Holdings (HSBC) Plans to Launch Global Payments App Zing
With an aim to take on firms that offer cross-border payments, HSBC Holdings HSBC plans to introduce a money-transfer app – Zing – in the coming days in the U.K. This was disclosed by Nuno Matos, CEO of the company’s Global Wealth and Personal Banking business, in an interview to Bloomberg News.
The app will be available on Apple’s Appstore as well as Google Play platform soon. The non-HSBC customers will also be able to use this app. Users will be able to store a maximum of 10 currencies in digital wallets with locked-in rates to make payments in local currencies. Also, they will be able to use more than 30 currencies to make payments globally with the help of a combination of local and Swift payments.
Zing will not function as a bank and is licensed as an e-money institution by the Financial Conduct Authority. The funds kept in Zing are not deposits and, hence, are not insured by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Eventually, HSBC intends to roll out Zing’s service globally in an attempt to take a share in the fast-growing market servicing wealthy clients. Matos stated in the 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.”
Per the data made available by Statista, international payments is a lucrative and one of the fastest growing markets. Cross-border payments volume is projected to expand to $290 trillion in 2030 from $190 trillion in 2023.
HSBC already provides a fee-free multi-currency service to retail and wealth customers through Global Money. Launched in 2020, it attracted hundreds of thousands of customers and processed transactions worth approximately $11 billion in 2022.
Through Zing, HSBC intends to attract new clients, who may ultimately consider doing more business through the company. This effort is in sync with the company’s plan to become a leading financial institution for internationally mobile customers.
In 2023, shares of HSBC on the NYSE rallied 30.1%, outperforming the industry’s growth of 20.3%.
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Currently, HSBC carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Foreign Banks Worth a Look
A couple of better-ranked foreign banks are ICICI Bank Limited IBN and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. MUFG.
ICICI Bank’s current-year earnings estimates have moved 1.5% upward over the past 30 days. The stock has rallied 6.8% over the past year. IBN currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Mitsubishi UFJ’s current-year earnings estimates have moved 2.6% north over the past month. The company’s shares have gained 19.2% over the past year. At present, MUFG carries a Zacks Rank of 2.
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