If you don't have the currency you need in your account, you can still spend money but you'll need to hold funds in GBP sterling. We'll automatically convert from GBP to your transaction currency – as long as there's enough money in your account.
We won't charge you any transaction or conversion fees. You'll only pay the HSBC Exchange Rate.
So, if you're travelling in Europe and want to pay for a meal with your card in euros, either:
1. You already have euros in your account, and the balance is sufficient to cover the bill, so we'll debit the amount in euros
OR
2. You don't have euros in your account, but have enough GBP sterling, so we'll convert the billed amount from sterling to euros
OR
3. You have some euros in your account, but not enough to cover the bill. So we'll take your available balance in euros and convert the rest from your balance in GBP sterling
When using your debit card in China or Hong Kong, it won't be possible to use your CNY balance. Payments will be debited from your GBP balance. This is because there are regulatory restrictions for CNY currency that we're currently unable to adhere to.
We don't currently offer automatic conversions from any currency other than GBP sterling. If you're converting from euros, for example, we recommend you convert your funds within the wallet before making a payment.
