Head of Strategy & Content @ Sardine / Writer FintechBrainfood 🧠
HSBC just killed Zing - their $170M+ bet against Wise A fascinating post-mortem on why big banks keep losing the innovation war... The pitch was perfect: "Let's build our own Wise! Modern UX, low fees, happy customers!" The reality? A masterclass in how NOT to innovate: The proposition made no sense: - Forced existing customers to re-KYC 🤦♂️ - Vs Wise/Revolut it was just, another app and not very complete - 3+ years of planning before real customer interaction - $150M+ spent before a single $ of revenue While HSBC was planning, Wise and Revolut: - Captured the market - Built cult-like customer loyalty - Scaled globally - Iterated their product rapidly around customer feedback The Brutal Truth: Big banks have lost consumer cross-border payments. Not because they lack talent or resources. But because they're playing a game designed for failure. The Real Lessons: - Ship fast, learn faster - Test with real customers immediately - Keep burn low until product-market fit HSBC eventually did the smart thing - partnered with Dandelion to modernize their internal cross-border. You have to wonder if this ultimately killed Zing. Sometimes innovation means admitting others solved the problem better. Every bank faces this choice: Build (and likely fail unless you can internalize the lessons) or Partner and modernize. The age of NIH (Not Invented Here) is dead. Follow me for more fintech strategy & insights 🧵
Bharat P.
1w
Didn't RBS's NatWest launch its own standalone digital bank Bó, in a plan to meet competition from online start-ups. They shut down as well. I think only JPMC's "Chase" App has lasted so far, but I think they have spent over $400 million to launch. Banks clearly don't do as well as startups when it comes to building a new bank from scratch to compete with existing startup banks.
Ewan MacLeod
1w
3 years of planning… just amazing!
This is not about highlighting wise or Revolut supremacy. This is about Old school banking inefficiency.
The KYC question is bigger than people have given it credit for and agree with you Sy: whitelabel the platform and offer it as a seamless service to existing customers. Don’t ask them to download your app: they already have an app for that. You won’t win.
I will bet against banks and other big companies always failing when they try to compete against fast-rising smaller players. Do you know why? While the smaller guys are fighting to stay alive, the bigger companies are arguing about work-life balance, processes, red tape, risk, and compliance. Here's the thing: it's not that these don't matter, but when you're not fighting for your life, you can't build anything transformational. Innovation has never been built out of comfort.
Yves Abreu
1w
The only way for traditional banks to properly innovate is to spin-off completely, branch out entirely, no attachments, complete freedom for the new team. A pure equity deal, maybe some collaboration as client/provider, but no operational intervention. If it works, well, good. If it doesn't, it doesn't contaminate the main business. I've seen this over and over again.
Completely agree with Simon's reflections on the challenges faced by big banks in driving meaningful change. It’s a nuanced issue, and I’d like to add a few more thoughts to the cocktail: 1️⃣ Big banks move big money: They’re built to focus on initiatives that can tangibly impact their P&L. While many are surprisingly adept at kickstarting new ventures, the real challenge lies in consolidating opportunities. This requires entrepreneurial drive—a force that doesn’t naturally thrive in large corporate structures. 2️⃣ The comfort of incrementalism: Most large organizations excel at incremental improvements because they’re safe and measurable. However, true disruptive innovation often threatens their existing cash cows. It’s a difficult balancing act to pursue bold change while protecting what’s already working. 3️⃣ Banks as infrastructure: Commercial banks are, at their core, part of societal infrastructure, and their consumer perception is shaped by over a century of history. Reinventing themselves as something else—whether fintech or lifestyle brands—is not only a branding challenge but also a cultural and operational one. Thoughts ?
Surprising… or maybe not. I was curious as to HSBC’s appetite to cannibalise a core revenue stream for their Retail Bank… and this burn rate with little/no revenue makes for a tough business case (for HSBC as the ‘VC’). Add to this new group leadership, looking to cut cost from non-core businesses.
Co-founder, President @ SonarAI
1wWhile Zing didn’t make the cut, let’s not forget the big picture: banks still handle the vast majority of cross-border payments globally. Fintechs like Wise and Revolut are growing, sure—but they’ve captured just 12% of the market as of 2021, projected to hit 17% by 2024. The remaining 83%? Still dominated by banks moving trillions annually. HSBC’s $170M Zing misstep highlights a key lesson: big banks are evolving, not losing. By partnering with Dandelion, HSBC streamlined internal cross-border payments—a move that reflects what banks do best: scale infrastructure and secure regulatory-compliant systems. Fintechs shine in speed and customer experience, but banks still bring unmatched global reach, trust, and compliance capabilities to the table. The future isn’t about banks vs. fintechs—it’s about partnerships where both win. Stats don’t lie: 75% of global cross-border flows are still controlled by banks, with SWIFT alone handling $5 trillion daily. Innovation doesn’t kill banks—it forces them to adapt.