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  • Writer's pictureJonas Bateman

HSBC Has Announced A New Product To Rival TransferWise.

Updated: Dec 23, 2020

Stop! You may want to wait before you use HSBC's Global Money Account. TransferWise still keeps its charm as the best money online transfer service in 2020.


Stop before you switch to Finextra HSBC rival to TransferWise.

The gauntlet has been thrown and it’s good news for TransferWise.

From our perspective, this is exactly what TransferWise wanted to accomplish: disrupt the banking transfer service industry and establish a competitive marketplace to ensure a fair, speedy, safe method of transferring money online.


Banks are starting to wake up and smell the coffee that high-fees and charges for online transfers are becoming the thing of the past. As more and more banks or services that rival TransferWise come on board - the consumer i.e. you are the benefactor. Banco Santander currently offers a rival product called, PagoFX, however that is only available for the UK retail market and individual sole traders.


HSBC’s Global Money Account will be launched to the US market first and then other markets will follow in 2021. According to a recent Finextra's news article, verifies with Carolyn Criscitiello, HSBC USA's who manages digital payments and personal banking for the firm, stated that they will eventually enable at a future date international transfers to be done instantly with other banks.


Hold Your Horses!

Hold your horses! Wait! HSBC's Global Money Account ONLY is available to extend payments and transfers to other HSBC account holders! Obviously, that means you have to be an existing or new HSBC account holder. It does not offer the ability to transfer from HSBC to another bank, TransferWise does and it does right now!


The ability to transfer between the same bank already exist, correct? Yes, Citibank and others have an online product that would be similar to HSBC’s Global Money Account and Citi has something similar to TransferWise's product called, Zelle, and it’s been around for years. If you are a Citi account holder you can join that service to conduct similar services, however, it has drawbacks if you want to transfer amounts over $1000 and has a limited number of countries you can send to.


HSBC is not ready yet, first, they need to get up to Citi’s product before they can claim a competitive product to TransferWise. HSBC still has a long way to go before they can truly take any market share from TransferWise or other similar service providers. I would still bet my money on the TransferWise horse here.

For the record, TransferWise does not offer in-person cash pickups, so you may want to stay with services like Western Union or Remitly for that option, but they charge much higher rates for that type of service. Refer to our article on Western Union and its expensive charges. However, it has very competitive rates compared to other transfer services such as PayPal, Xoom, or Citi's Zelle service. Review the features that TransferWise has which HSBC does not offer at this moment. TransferWise offers the following:

  • International money transfers to more than 80 currencies abroad

  • Multicurrency account

  • Remittances made simple

  • Transfer money from credit card to bank account

  • On average more than 8 times cheaper than other rivals

  • Competitive exchange rates

  • Borderless account

  • Optional debit card

  • FCA regulated

  • Business account option

  • Open API for Business Accounts

  • Apple IOS and Android mobile applications

All for free!




The following graphic illustrates the Total Cost compared to other service providers such as HSBC, Barclays, and Lloyds Bank.

Total cost comparison for online money transfer service providers.

Out of the gate, TransferWise has the lowest rates compared to the others. They lead the way for international money transfers, so let the banks twist the narrative until they show the truest cost savings until then I would stick or switch to TransferWise.

Business man go street light

Therefore Go! Go! Go! Register now with TransferWise.

Keep using TransferWise or if you are not aware of TransferWise you should try out TransferWise and join 8 million users whom save on a daily basis, click here to Register in a few easy steps.





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