‘We see great potential’: HSBC banks on the metaverse with The Sandbox partnership

Having established a presence in real-world sports from golf to cycling and football, the bank will seek to win over e-sports enthusiasts by embracing the potential of web3 technology from which augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR) will finally come of age.

Suresh Balaji, chief marketing officer, Asia-Pacific, HSBC, said: “At HSBC, we see great potential to create new experiences through emerging platforms, opening up a world of opportunity for our current and future customers and for the communities we serve. Through our partnership with The Sandbox we are making our foray into the metaverse, allowing us to create innovative brand experiences for new and existing customers. We’re excited to be working with our sports partners, brand ambassadors and Animoca Brands to co-create experiences that are educational, inclusive and accessible.”

Sebastien Borget, chief operating officer and co-founder of The Sandbox, said: “We’re pleased to see large, trusted institutions such as HSBC join The Sandbox open metaverse and embrace the culture of web3, connecting with users through entertainment, gaming and user-generated content (UGC). We believe this is the beginning of a broader adoption of web3 and the metaverse by institutions driving brand experiences and engagement within this new ecosystem.”

HSBC is pursuing an increasingly digital engagement strategy with its customers having earlier forged an alliance with One Esports to offer financial services to players and fans.