Global Money Transfers FAQs

Global Money Transfers allows you to send international payments in 50+ currencies through the HSBC Expat Mobile Banking app and online banking. Send to anyone, anywhere in the world, faster than ever before.

Global Transfers - transfer money between your own HSBC accounts, where available. This is still the fastest option when transferring money between your HSBC accounts globally.

International transfers - you can do this through online or telephone banking. It uses the traditional SWIFT channels and may cost more in fees. Please refer to our Tariff of Charges to learn more.

Global Money Transfers - pay money to other people's accounts, including those outside HSBC. It's fast and usually cheaper than traditional ways of sending money. Available in the HSBC Expat Mobile Banking app and online banking.

Global Money Transfers can be used to send payments all around the world, including accounts outside of HSBC. You can also make payments to International Wallets using just the payee's mobile number.

Not all banks accept all currencies, so make sure that the receiving account is able to process the currency of your payment before sending.

As with all of our international payment services, regulatory restrictions apply to certain countries and territories.

The daily limit for payments via Global Money Transfers is £250,000 or currency equivalent. This applies to all payments made through the service in a day, regardless of which account you make the payment from. There are some variations that you need to be aware of for receiving accounts.

If you need to transfer more than the wallet limit, you can make an international bank transfer in the app.

The information you need will depend on the destination and type of transfer you're making.

It's important to check you have all the right details before making a payment. If anything is incorrect, it may result in your payment being returned. You might receive a lower amount back because of deductions made for charges or exchange rates, for example.

Depending on the location you're sending money to, you'll need one or more of the following things:

Depending on the destination and transfer method, you may also need the following details:

You'll have the option to save their details to use in the future.

You can add a new payee by choosing 'Transfer to saved international payees' from the 'Pay and transfer' menu and selecting 'Add international payee'.

Alternatively, you can add a new payee when you are making an international payment. When you reach the payee screen, select 'Add Payee'. You'll find the option above your existing payees if you have them saved.

You'll need the following information about your new payee:

Missing or incorrect information may result in your payment being rejected by the receiving bank.

For security purposes, you will need to verify the new payee with your 6-digit PIN, Touch ID or Face ID depending on your mobile device and app settings.

You can change the payment currency when you make a transfer. It’ll default to the payee’s local (destination) currency, but you can choose a different currency from the drop-down list during the transfer. Choosing a non-local currency may take longer and may incur additional bank fees. You’ll see the estimated arrival time and any applicable fees before you submit your payment.

You can’t edit a saved payee’s bank account details in the app. If a payee’s account details have changed, you’ll need to delete the payee and add them again as a new payee. If you have multiple accounts for the same payee, you can use the account nickname to differentiate between them.

To delete a payee, select ‘Transfer to saved international payees’ from the ‘Pay and transfer’ menu. Select the payee you want to delete, then follow the on-screen instructions.

Yes, you can make future-dated or recurring payments with Global Money Transfers.

A Global Money Transfer will show a transaction reference number and will be prefixed as either:

The estimated arrival for a Global Money Transfer ranges from almost immediately to 4 business days. You'll see an estimate before you make your transfer. The actual arrival time depends on the receiving bank.

You can track the progress of your Global Money Transfers using the International Payment Tracker in the mobile app.

As transactions are sent instantly, they can't be cancelled. Please contact us to discuss your options if you have sent a payment in error.

Wallet transfers can be made to:

You can share a confirmation that a payment is on its way to another person by using the HSBC Mobile Banking app. On the confirmation screen (which confirms the estimated arrival date) you can select the 'share' icon at the top right of the screen and share the payment details with the payee.

Yes, you can put any additional details in the 'Payment reference' section.

International payments can be rejected. Some of the things that may cause this are:

If the payment can’t be completed, we’ll return the amount to your account using the HSBC exchange rate at that time. This means the amount we return may be more or less than the original amount.

According to Alipay’s verification requirement, the payee’s name should be entered in Putonghua Pinyin format rather than Chinese characters. For example, if the payee’s full name is "陳大文", you will need to enter 'Chen Da Wen' in the payee name field.

This payment request applies to Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR residents.

Please check with your payee for the exact name registered to their Alipay wallet.

For transfers to Thailand, there are stricter checks on payee names. Please make sure you enter the name of your payee exactly as it appears on their account, or you may find your transfer is rejected. 

All conversions and foreign exchange rates are indicative only and subject to change by the bank without notice, including intra-day changes.

Foreign exchange rates are updated every 60 seconds during market hours. Please check the rate and select 'Confirm' if you're happy to continue. The final rate will be set when you confirm your transfer.

Live rates won't be available on public holidays or if we have to close unexpectedly. Transfers made outside live rate hours will be based on the most recent exchange rates from the close of business the previous day and will include an additional premium.[@fx-weekend]

Global Money Transfers are fee-free. There are no correspondent bank fees. Please note, some banks may charge to receive international payments.[@gmt-fees]

For a summary of our fees and charges please see our International Transactions page and refer to our tariff of charges.