HSBC is closing its retail cross-border payments app Zing just one year after its launch to focus on the bank’s broader restructuring efforts.
“Following a strategic review within the HSBC Group, we have made the decision to close Zing and integrate its underlying technology platform into HSBC,” a bank spokesperson told Bank Automation News.
The London-based bank worked with Visa to develop Zing, which enabled payments in over 30 currencies and operated in more than 200 countries, according to a Visa release.
By bringing Zing’s capabilities in house, HSBC will increase its “market share in the areas where we have a clear competitive advantage,” the spokesperson said.
The cost to develop Zing, a timeline of its integration and payment volume on the cross-border payment app were not disclosed.
Restructuring efforts
The $3 trillion bank aims to create “a simpler, more dynamic, more agile and leaner bank” by exiting from non-core business lines, like cross-border payment, and downsizing and even leaving some markets, Chief Executive Georges Elhedery said during the bank’s third-quarter earnings call on Oct. 29.
The bank plans to use technology to better connect its business lines part of the restructuring, Elhedery said, adding that deploying automation at scale will help the organization simplify operations.
The bank will focus on core offerings like corporate banking, wealth management, premier banking and retail banking in certain geographies, Elhedery said.
Since 2021, when the restructuring plans were announced, HSBC has:
- Sold its Canadian operations to $2.1 trillion Royal Bank of Canada for $10 billion;
- Acquired Citi’s wealth business in China for $3.6 billion;
- Announced the winding down of its United States retail banking operations over five years by selling branches and portfolios to $219 billion Citizens Bank and $22 billion Cathay Bank.
Other major FIs like Ally Financial, Citi and Goldman Sachs also are restructuring, with plans to exit non-core businesses in order to focus on driving growth through competitive advantage.
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