HSBC has extended its instant cross-border payments network to small and midsize businesses through a digital wallet built for storing and spending foreign currency.
The HSBC Global Wallet marks the first time U.S. customers can hold foreign currency without immediately converting it to local currency and adds the ability for business owners to make foreign payments in local currency, HSBC announced this week.
HSBC’s wallet is available in the U.S., U.K and Singapore for outbound payments in key markets in Europe and Asia, with plans to add receiving capabilities later this year, HSBC said.
Entrepreneurs managing global supply chain and other business payments may use HSBC’s new wallet to store up to eight different currencies simultaneously in the wallet and make local payments in more than 15 countries instantly and without fees, the bank said on Tuesday.
HSBC Global Wallet contains individual currency wallets based on local domestic payment networks in the U.K., Canada, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and the 19 markets that accept euros, HSBC said.
“Businesses using this wallet can transition funds for local payments over our bank network where it’s less likely to incur processing fees from other financial institutions along the chain,” Drew Douglas, HSBC’s head of liquidity and cash management for the U.S. and Canada, said in an interview.
Storing funds in the original currency opens up other options for business owners, he said.
“Customers can hold foreign currency until they need it, without having to do duplicative conversions,” Douglas said.
The move follows HSBC’s rollout in November 2020 of real-time cross-border payments through its
