Multi-currency accounts are expanding beyond the realm of fintechs.
This week, HSBC U.S. is launching a multi-currency digital wallet. The new offering, HSBC Global Wallet, will enable U.S. business banking users to exchange foreign currencies and make transactions across borders without using third party tools.
The wallet, which is also being rolled out in the U.K. and Singapore today, will be available in other markets starting next year.
HSBC Global Wallet will offer small-and-medium-sized businesses instant capability to pay in foreign currencies, including Euros, U.K. Pound Sterling, Hong Kong Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Singapore Dollars, Australian Dollars, and Malaysian Ringgit. As a result, these business users will have the ability to make international payments to the U.K., Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and 19 markets in the Eurozone using domestic real-time payment networks. The ability for businesses to receive these local currencies will be available later this year.
“We are excited that the U.S. is one of the first markets in which we are launching HSBC Global Wallet,” said HSBC Head of Liquidity & Cash Management, U.S. and Canada Drew Douglas. “We are excited for the launch and looking forward to expanding the breadth of currencies as we move forward and to introducing receive ‘like a local’ functionality in the very near future.”
Today’s news follows the launch of HSBC’s Global Money account in November of last year. Based on a similar concept, the Global Money multi-currency account enables the bank’s retail banking customers to convert, hold, and transfer multiple currencies from one account. Users can hold up to eight currencies at once and can send money instantly to other HSBC accountholders in more than 15 countries for free.
While the launch of a multi-currency account is a win for HSBC in today’s global economy, there is still one element notably missing– cryptocurrency. The multi-currency accounts that fintechs such as Revolut offer enable users to buy, sell, and hold multiple cryptocurrencies. While HSBC said it has “a pipeline of new currencies and enhancements,” the bank made no mention of future cryptocurrency plans.