In its bid to compete with fintech giants like Revolut and Wise, HSBC has quietly been assembling a team of experienced professionals from these companies. The team behind HSBC’s new money transfer service, Zing, includes individuals who formerly worked for Monzo, Revolut, and Wise. For instance, Monzo’s director of product marketing, Neil McKeown, has been hired as head of product and brand marketing for Zing. Additionally, Dario De Angelis, a former senior treasury manager at Revolut, joined HSBC as a senior treasury manager for Zing. On the engineering front, Eduardo Mercer, who spent a decade working at Wise, has been hired by HSBC.
HSBC has previously invested $35 million in neobank Monese, although the investment has not performed well. As a result, HSBC has moved several senior employees from the Monese project to work on Zing. These team members include Dimitri Bogatenkov, the head of mobile at Monese, and Gandhali Mane, the senior product designer. HSBC has also brought in Ian Fullen as CFO of Zing, and James Allan as CEO. Both employees have extensive experience in banking and finance. Nassos Economopoulos, formerly the global head of cloud and emerging technologies risk, has been hired as head of technology for Zing.
This move into fintech is not HSBC’s first venture into the sector. By hiring individuals with experience at successful fintech companies, HSBC hopes to position itself as a strong competitor in the market. The new team assembled for Zing shows that HSBC is serious about pursuing innovation and providing customers with seamless and efficient money transfer services. The success of digital banks like Revolut and Wise has demonstrated the demand for fast and user-friendly financial services. If HSBC can capture a share of this market, it could help the bank remain competitive in the rapidly evolving fintech industry.
