HSBC

Universal bank · London, United Kingdom

HSBC Holdings is a London-headquartered universal bank with offices, branches and subsidiaries in 57 countries and territories and about 211,000 staff. Its UK ring-fenced bank, HSBC UK Bank plc, offers a Small Business Banking Account with no monthly fee, and its Innovation Banking unit (the former SVB UK) serves venture-backed companies across 10 markets. Corporates ranked it the top trade finance provider globally for the ninth year in Euromoney's 2026 survey. It runs a Tokenised Deposit Service in Hong Kong and the US and holds a Hong Kong stablecoin issuer licence.

Legal name: HSBC Holdings plc
Regulated by: PRA/FCA (UK), HKMA (Hong Kong), OCC/Federal Reserve (US), MAS (Singapore), ECB/ACPR (HSBC Continental Europe)
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 1865
Website: www.hsbc.com

Scores, 0 to 10

10.0United Kingdom

HSBC UK Bank plc is a UK clearing bank whose Small Business Banking Account has no monthly fee and opens 65% of accounts within 24 hours. · source

10.0Asia-Pacific (SG, HK, AU, JP, KR)

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is HSBC's founding entity; HSBC completed the privatisation of Hang Seng Bank in January 2026 and holds an HKMA stablecoin issuer licence. · source

10.0Trade, manufacturing & import-export

Euromoney 2026 survey ranked HSBC number one globally for letters of credit, structured trade, working capital and documentary collections; HTS platform deployed in 25 markets. · source

9.5Financial strength & stability

G-SIB bucket 3 on the FSB 2025 list; HSBC Holdings rated A3 (Moody's), A- (S&P), A+ (Fitch) and HSBC UK Bank plc AA (Fitch) as at 6 July 2026; CET1 14.1% at 30 June 2026. · source

9.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

HSBC Global Wallet lets corporate customers hold, receive and pay in AUD, CAD, CNY, EUR, HKD, JPY and other currencies with local account details inside HSBCnet. Global network in 57 countries and territories with Global Wallet multi-currency accounts in HSBCnet and Tokenised Deposit Service for 24/7 intra-group liquidity in Hong Kong and the US. · source

8.0Middle East & Gulf

HSBC Bank Middle East is a group subsidiary listed on the HSBC Wikipedia page among its regional banks; HSBC operates in 57 countries and territories. · source

7.5Fast digital onboarding

Online application; HSBC UK says 65% of Small Business Banking Accounts open within 24 hours, but applicants must be UK tax resident. · source

7.5Startups & VC-backed companies

HSBC Innovation Banking (the former SVB UK) serves venture-backed businesses from pre-seed to post-IPO in the UK, Sweden and Denmark with venture debt and a Founder Success programme. · source

7.5Customer satisfaction

Trustpilot TrustScore 4.4 from 28,947 reviews for hsbc.co.uk, although 34% of reviews are one star. · source

7.0Europe (EU, EEA, Switzerland)

HSBC expanded into Continental Europe in 2000 with the acquisition of Credit Commercial de France and today has subsidiaries including HSBC Trinkaus and Innovation Banking teams in Continental Europe. · source

7.0United States

HSBC Bank USA, N.A. is a national bank; its Innovation Banking arm offers venture debt and the Tokenised Deposit Service was extended to the US in April 2026. · source

7.0Latin America, Africa & South Asia

HSBC Mexico and HSBC Bank India are group subsidiaries with local banking licences, per the subsidiaries list on Wikipedia. · source

6.5Lowest fees

Small Business Banking Account has no monthly fee and free UK digital payments, but branch cash costs GBP 1.50 per transaction and Post Office cash 1.5% of value. · source

6.5Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

Global Wallet gives businesses local account details to receive AUD, CAD, EUR, HKD, JPY, USD and other currencies like a local; card acquiring is via partners. HSBC Innovation Banking has over 900 bankers in 10 markets for venture-backed software firms, and Global Wallet gives local account details in AUD, CAD, CNY, EUR, HKD, JPY, SGD, CHF and USD. · source

6.0Fintech companies that need a partner bank

HSBC Innovation Banking serves fintechs and other venture-backed firms with over 900 bankers across 10 markets; no public safeguarding-account programme for EMIs was found. · source

6.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

HSBC UK Business Debit Card runs on Visa with a 2.75 percent non-sterling transaction fee and no annual charge; employee spend needs a separate Commercial Card at GBP 32 a year after the first 12 months. · source

5.0Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

HSBC UK states customers can still receive payments from cryptocurrency exchanges into their accounts, but it publishes no source-of-funds process or business-specific rule for exchange proceeds. · source

4.5Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

The HSBC UK Small Business Banking Account requires applicants to be UK tax resident and asks for a Companies House number, so owners living abroad need another HSBC entity such as Hong Kong. · source

4.5High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

HSBC's 2025 Wolfsberg questionnaire lists gambling and adult entertainment as EDD on a risk-based approach, marijuana-related entities and virtual asset providers as restricted, and shell banks as prohibited. · source

4.5Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

The HKMA granted HSBC a stablecoin issuer licence in April 2026 for an HKD coin planned for the second half of 2026 but not yet live in September; corporates can already use its Tokenised Deposit Service for 24/7 transfers in markets including Hong Kong, the US and the UAE, which is tokenised deposits rather than stablecoins. · source

4.0Best interest on business balances

Business Money Manager pays 1.33% to 1.53% AER until 9 March 2026 and 1.20% to 1.31% AER afterwards, with no minimum deposit. · source

3.5On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

HSBC sells no crypto, and HSBC UK caps payments to crypto exchanges at GBP 2,500 per transaction and GBP 10,000 per rolling 30 days per customer and refuses credit card crypto purchases; the page is aimed at personal customers and no business rule is published. · source

3.5Bitcoin

HSBC Hong Kong's investment platform has listed bitcoin ETFs since 2023, which is price exposure for private investors only; HSBC offers no bitcoin custody or transfer. · source

3.5Ethereum

The same Hong Kong platform lists ether ETFs for private investors, and HSBC offers no ether custody, transfer or staking to companies. · source

3.0Crypto-friendly bank

HSBC UK limits payments to crypto exchanges to GBP 2,500 per transaction and GBP 10,000 per 30 days and refuses credit card crypto purchases, while allowing receipts from exchanges. · source

1.5Crypto wallet and custody for a business

HSBC holds no crypto for companies: its digital assets page lists custody only for tokenised securities, plus tokenised gold and tokenised deposits, and no bitcoin or ether custody, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

No crypto or stablecoin acceptance is offered to merchants by any HSBC unit found, and its HKD stablecoin was still only planned for PayMe and the HK app in September 2026. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.