HSBC Global Money Account launched 19 October 2022 at 12:40AM edited 19 October 2022 at 12:41AM in Budgeting & bank accounts 126 replies 12.1K views

gt94sss2

HSBC have finally launched their Global Money Account in the UK.

It comes with a free multi-currency debit card and the account allows you to hold balances in all the following:

GBP - pound sterling

EUR - euro

USD - US dollar

AUD - Australian dollar

ZAR - South African rand

PLN - Polish zloty

CAD - Canadian dollar

NZD - New Zealand dollar

CHF - Swiss franc

SEK - Swedish krona

HKD - Hong Kong dollar

AED - UAE dirham

CZK - Czech koruna

NOK - Norwegian krone

DKK - Danish krone

SGD - Singapore dollar

JPY - Japanese yen

CNH - Chinese yuan renminbi

Note: You currently need to be an HSBC customer to open an account.

I know that many people here are interested in foreign currency accounts and thought this might be of interest.

More details at https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international/travel-money-card/

Daliah

Thanks for the heads up. As an existing account holder, I was able to open the account in seconds - very smooth and impressive (no credit check). I could allocate my own PIN for the card, and instantly add the card to ApplePay (wallet and watch). Amazing - the card is ready to use straight away! It is a VISA card, so makes for a nice complement for any Mastercard you might have for foreign use from Starling or Chase etc.

The account is part of the £85k FSCS protection you have at HSBC.

I haven’t yet figured out what exchange rates they use and how this compares with other multi currency accounts. Will investigate later, along with the intricacies of using the card in different currencies.

The account is free of charge. There are no fees for using the card abroad, or indeed in the UK. There is also no overdraft facility, which I consider a positive.

On the downside: you can’t have DDs or SOs, so no use for paying utility bills for your property abroad. It also doesn’t appear to be possible to receive in foreign currency - everything must start off with GBP. Sadly but not unsurprisingly there is no interest for positive balances. 

eDicky

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international/travel-money-card/faqs/

Appears to use the Visa daily rate for card transactions in a currency not held (or not sufficient) in the account, however for converting currencies within the account an undefined margin is added to (presumably) the interbank rate.

Daliah

Small comparison of rates right now, £20 GBP to Euro:

HSBC €22.97
Starling €22.90
Fineco €22.93
Wise: €22.67

Wise rates are getting more and more uncompetitive - though they do offer more services (SO, DDs, receiving foreign currencies).

A bit of an annoyance is that you cannot check the HSBC exchange deal unless you actually have sufficient GBP (or other currency) in the Global Money account. All the competitors do allow checking regardless of your GBP balance.

I think for now, I will stick with Starling and Fineco, but once HSBC offer incoming payments in foreign currency, I could be tempted to switch. Mind you, they say "pay no fees on all international payments made via Global Money until 31 March 2023", so the account might not be as attractive as it seems now.

The information available on the HSBC website about the Global Money account is a bit confusing, and there seem to be two sets of web pages for the same account - one in the Expat section, and one in the International Money section. For example, it says one one page that I need the HSBC Expat app but I am happily using the normal HSBC UK app, which it confirms on another HSBC page. 

Bottom line though: a big thumbs up from me if anyone is looking to send one-off payments abroad. Also looks really good as a travel card for the countries listed above (up to £500 or equivalent currency cash withdrawal/day)

Daliah

A small example of the conflicting information from two different lots of HSBC websites. Google seems to find the Expat site if you search for 'Global Money Account', not the UK site, which you are likely to want if you are a UK resident. There are lots of other differences about this account between the two web areas. For example, there seems to be no mention of a debit card on the Expat site - though I haven't spent much time reading the expat site.

FSCS cover on one website (UK):



and Jersey compensation scheme on the other (Expat site)

Marchitiello

I also opened the account in few clicks as soon as I received the email. I remember it was mentioned on these boards not longer ago that such an account was coming soon.

I was planning to play with currency exchange to establish rates during my lunch break (now) but Daliah has already done so (thanks).

Although the card was easy to order and immediately available on the Apple Wallet, I would have preferred if somehow they could have linked this account to my existing Debit Card, especially as it is also a Visa instead of MC.

I have not read the in and out but would be lovely if this card would also get free ATM usage at HSBC worldwide ATM (where the local HSBC would normally charge a fee for non customer usage), so does anyone know? 

Marchitiello

Daliah said:

The information available on the HSBC website about the Global Money account is a bit confusing, and there seem to be two sets of web pages for the same account - one in the Expat section, and one in the International Money section. For example, it says one one page that I need the HSBC Expat app but I am happily using the normal HSBC UK app, which it confirms on another HSBC page. 

This is because the product was first launched for the expat/international customers and was expected to launch later to the UK. It was mentioned on this forum a while ago when we were discussing multi currencies account in another thread.

Daliah

Marchitiello said:

I also opened the account in few clicks as soon as I received the email. I remember it was mentioned on these boards not longer ago that such an account was coming soon.

I was planning to play with currency exchange to establish rates during my lunch break (now) but Daliah has already done so (thanks).

Although the card was easy to order and immediately available on the Apple Wallet, I would have preferred if somehow they could have linked this account to my existing Debit Card, especially as it is also a Visa instead of MC.

I have not read the in and out but would be lovely if this card would also get free ATM usage at HSBC worldwide ATM (where the local HSBC would normally charge a fee for non customer usage), so does anyone know? 

Check the card FAQ - as far as I can make out, there is no commitment to foc withdrawals at HSBC ATMs - -  they merely say that HSBC won't charge for the card use but the ATM Operator might. 

Marchitiello

It just hit me having done one test conversion and seeing that the only options are now to either spend the money with the debit card or transfer/convert back within the HSBC accounts, that this is not a proper multi currency account, but more like a digital wallet comparable to buying currency before a trip and converting back any left over… yes the rates are very competitive right now,  but ultimately for those that really like to held money in other currencies and transfer them across accounts with other bank /countries for other purposes, this is not the thing. 

gt94sss2

Marchitiello said:

It just hit me having done one test conversion and seeing that the only options are now to either spend the money with the debit card or transfer/convert back within the HSBC accounts, that this is not a proper multi currency account, but more like a digital wallet comparable to buying currency before a trip and converting back any left over… yes the rates are very competitive right now,  but ultimately for those that really like to held money in other currencies and transfer them across accounts with other bank /countries for other purposes, this is not the thing. 

You can transfer money to external accounts/payees - you just need to set up a payee under the Global Money section under the "Pay and Transfer" tab

Marchitiello

gt94sss2 said:

Marchitiello said:

It just hit me having done one test conversion and seeing that the only options are now to either spend the money with the debit card or transfer/convert back within the HSBC accounts, that this is not a proper multi currency account, but more like a digital wallet comparable to buying currency before a trip and converting back any left over… yes the rates are very competitive right now,  but ultimately for those that really like to held money in other currencies and transfer them across accounts with other bank /countries for other purposes, this is not the thing. 

You can transfer money to external accounts/payees - you just need to set up a payee under the Global Money section under the "Pay and Transfer" tab

Ok, I got it, but in the app you actually need to select the standard Pay & Transfer before then selecting the Global Money as a source of payment.

Edited: you need to select send money Internationally from further down the page, completely missed first time around