HSBC, a British multinational investment bank and financial services holding company, has reportedly entered a partnership with The Sandbox, an arm of Animoca Brands, to foray into the metaverse.

The collaboration will empower the bank to build innovative brand experiences for novel and existing customers. HSBC has purchased a 3x3 LAND site in The Sandbox metaverse in order to engage and link with esports, sports, and gaming enthusiasts. Details regarding the collaboration will be announced in due course.

According to Suresh Balaji, HSBC's CMO for the Asia Pacific, the metaverse is how the customers will experience the internet's next generation, Web3. This can be accomplished by immersive technologies such as AR, extended reality, and VR. According to Balajji, HSBC has a great potential of building new experiences via developing platforms, offering multiple opportunities for the existing and new consumers and for the communities it serves. 

Sebastien Borget, The Sandbox's co-founder and COO, said that it is delightful to see trusted and large institutions like HSBC joining The Sandbox open metaverse and embracing the culture of Web3, connecting with users via gaming, entertainment, and user-generated content.

He also expressed his belief that this is the beginning of broader adoption of Web3 and the metaverse by organizations driving brand experience and engagement with this new environment.

HSBC is the latest of 200 existing partnerships, all following vision of The Sandbox of allowing players to develop their skills using both well-known and original characters and worlds.  Furthermore, HSBC is not the only company collaborating with The Sandbox to explore the metaverse.

Globally, The Sandbox has around 200 existing partnerships, including top brands like Gucci, Ubisoft, Warner Music Group, Atari, ZEPETO, Steve Aoki, Richie Hawtin, Adidas, Deadmau5, The Walking Dead, The Smurfs, Care Bears, Snoop Dogg, and CryptoKitties.

Source Credit - https://www.marketing-interactive.com/hsbc-metaverse-sports-esports