HSBC Introduces New Real-Time Global Payments Tool

HSBC is introducing a new real-time payments tool that will enable its 14 million international customers to transfer funds through a single account in 20 countries around the globe.

“As the world’s leading international bank, it is our ambition to put banking in our customers’ pockets, and create a top-tier borderless banking experience that lets them manage their finances whenever and wherever they want,” Matthias Dekan, head of HSBC Global Money, HSBC Group, said in a statement on Monday (Nov. 23). 

Dekan added that the pandemic triggered a 150 percent increase in mobile banking and the HSBC Global Money Account makes it even easier for more people to “manage their finances from the comfort and safety of their homes or when they’re on the go.”

The new platform gives users the ability to send money from any HSBC account in real time and get preferential FX rates. 

“The ambition for Global Money Account is to provide our customers with one global account for all of their financial needs so that if they move from one market to another, they don’t need to open a new account, they just take their existing account with them,” said Carolyn Criscitiello, head of digital payments, wealth and personal banking at HSBC USA. “This will allow them to pay bills in multiple markets, make cross border transfers and spend like a local wherever they are.”

Global Money Account holders can hold as many as eight different HSBC currencies with conversion options — United States Dollar, Euro, Sterling, Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, and Singapore Dollar. All features of the account can be accessed via a smartphone.  

In an October PYMNTS panel, six executives from payments firms, FinTechs and banks discussed the changing landscape of treasury banking and corporate clients. They said changes were starting before the pandemic, but accelerated the necessary modernization of data and payment flows.

A PYMNTS panel discussion last week discussed the friction in handling real time transactions. Participants agreed that infrastructure is the key to unlocking more value.