HSBC mobile banking app: UK bank shutting down Zing payments app with 400 jobs at risk, what is it - news

A major British bank is shutting down an app that has served millions of customers worldwide.

HSBC is closing down its global payments app Zing a year after launch, putting hundreds of jobs at risk, as the bank continues to overhaul its structure.

Zing was launched in the UK in January 2024 for people to hold funds in different currencies, send money internationally, or spend in the UK and abroad through an app and a multi-currency debit card.

The app was launched as a competitor to money apps like Wise and Revolut. Its closure is understood to be putting up to about 400 jobs at risk, including a significant number of non-HSBC staff contracted for customer support roles.

The bank has said it has plans in place to support affected employees including possible opportunities to be redeployed elsewhere within the business. Reuters reports that staff at risk of redundancy will be informed from Thursday (January 23).

HSBC said the decision means Zing’s “underlying technology platform” will be integrated into the wider bank.

A personalised morning news round-up with UK Today - sign up here.

The bank has said Zing customers will be informed of the option to become bank customers of HSBC UK and use the Global Money proposition, an alternative service offered by HSBC that allows users to hold, manage and send money in multiple currencies.

HSBC’s boss Georges Elhedery has initiated an overhaul of the global banking giant since taking on the top job in September.

This included merging operations to simplify the bank’s structure and reducing the number of separate geographical units. It has also begun cutting senior banker roles as part of efforts to reduce business costs.

Elhedery stressed the changes will make the bank “simpler and faster” by axing the doubling-up of roles at a senior level. A spokesperson for the bank said the Zing closure “forms part of the simplification of the group” announced in October.

Are you job-hunting? To view thousands of roles available right now, visit the JobsToday website.