Author: Sinead Cruise
LONDON (Reuters) – HSBC has decided to shut down its international payments app Zing, potentially causing around 400 job losses, a source familiar with the matter said, as Chief Executive Georges Elhedery steps up cost-cutting efforts at Europe’s biggest bank.
Staff threatened with redundancy will be notified from Thursday, according to the source, who said the approximate figure of 400 includes a significant number of external customer service staff outside HSBC.
A spokesman for HSBC declined to comment.
HSBC launched Zing – a mobile platform focused on cross-border payments – just a year ago, initially targeting UK-based customers using fintech rivals such as Revolut and Wise (LON:), which sought to undercut the big banks with lower transaction fees.
The app is designed to complement HSBC’s Global Money product available to its international Wealth and Personal Banking clients and to target non-HSBC clients who could help expand the bank’s traditional client base.
But management’s interest in building Zingo to mount a serious challenge to competitors has waned since Elhedery took over in September, the source said.
Elhedery, who spent a year as chief financial officer at the Asia-focused bank before succeeding Noel Quinn as chief executive, is midway through a sweeping overhaul aimed at streamlining costs, tightening focus and improving performance accountability.
Further investment in Zing was deemed an inefficient use of capital, the source said.
A number of senior managers have already left HSBC in recent weeks as Elhedery seeks to create a leaner and more dynamic organisation.
In the first quarter, additional layoffs are expected, with the bank’s management looking to offset earnings caused by lower interest rates, China’s economic slowdown, and geopolitical tensions.
Financial News previously reported the bank’s decision to close Zing.
