HSBC to let UK customers manage up to 21 different banks on one screen with new app

A new app by HSBC will allow U.K. customers to view bank accounts they have with different providers, in a major step towards meeting new European Union rules. The retail lender said Thursday it will introduce the HSBC Beta app from late October onward. It will initially be available to 10,000 HSBC customers.

As a beta product, it will still be in a stage of development; a full version to go on general release to the broader U.K. population is expected to arrive in early 2018. The app will be heavily targeted at the „millennial” market and is designed to simplify the process of managing savings.

HSBC UK announced today that it is making its first foray into open banking by launching a new test and learn mobile banking platform ahead of introducing a new app for customers in early 2018. The platform, HSBC Beta, will have a range of innovative new features that give customers more control over their money.

In a first from a major UK bank, the initial feature will allow customers to see all of their accounts on one screen, no matter who they bank with. Customers can add accounts from up to 21 different banks including Santander, Lloyds and Barclays and will allow users to see not only their current account but loans, mortgages and savings too if they are visible via online banking services.

This is the starting point for a raft of new features such as Safe Balance and Spend Analysis that will be released on Beta over the next few months, including:

. Safe Balance – shows how much disposable money you have before the next payday

. Spend Analysis – categorises spending, adds tags, notes and photos to transactions and analyse patterns for more informed decision making

. Digital Coach – provides insights into spending and allows users to learn how to spend and save better

. Goals – helps create savings goals and provides tips on how to reach your goals sooner

. Savings Rules – building on the successful SmartSave trial, it helps you to save as you spend by rounding up amounts and sending the extra to a savings account.

HSBC has found that there are two main attitudinal groups of customers:‘Planners’ want to know their actions now will pay off in the future, whereas ‘Responders’ want to focus on the things they really care about today. For both groups, time is their most precious asset.

Becky Moffat, Head of Personal Banking and Advance said: “Customers now bank at home, on the bus, at work and even in bed, but managing money is still too often a complex and complicated task. We want to provide customers with greater control and make their lives easier. Through our Beta app we want to give our customers a complete and joined-up view of their financial life and make it easier for them to choose confidently, taking the hassle out of checking dozens of statements and manually calculating what’s left.”

Raman Bhatia, Head of Digital, UK & Europe added: “Lots of people ask us if a big bank like HSBC is relevant in today’s competitive FinTech landscape. What sets us apart is that we have millions of customers, which provides a unique insight into how we can continue to improve our digital banking offering. The HSBC Beta platform allows us to test, learn and develop in a live environment, and then deploy the new technology at scale”.

HSBC Beta builds on the SmartSave app, conducted last year in the FCA Sandbox, which applied smart algorithms to identify when it’s safe to spend through nudges and auto rules. Our customers saved £126 on average over a two month trial. The best bits of the trial and will be integrated into an updated version of SmartSave on Beta. HSBC Beta will be trialled with 10,000 customers from the end of October ahead of general release in early 2018.

„This app speaks to what is happening in banking right now. The (European) regulator is shaking up what they see to be a very moribund banking sector,” Raman Bhatia, head of digital at HSBC in the U.K. and Europe, said at a private viewing ahead of the announcement.

The bank has spent $2 billion globally to work on its digital banking platform, Bhatia said.

HSBC serves 17 million customers in the UK and employs approximately 43,000 people.

Source: HSBC