Finance Choices
HSBC Current Account
The HSBC Current Account
With the HSBC Current Account you get free everyday banking - your Bank Account is free of charges in the UK for cheques, cash withdrawals from the HSBC/LINK network, Direct Debits, standing orders, automated bill payments and monthly statements.
You also get fee free 24/7 Internet Banking (subject to planned maintenance). Bank how you want to when you want to - you can check your balance, look at your statements or even pay your bills any time you like ? even in the middle of the night.
You get fee free arrangement of overdrafts up to £5,000 (subject to status) ? typical 14.8% EAR variable, free HSBC Bank international debit card (subject to status) and Price Promise Insurance ? Whenever you use your HSBC Bank international debit card to purchase branded goods on the UK high street, if you find the identical item for at least £10 less within 60 days, you could claim back the difference.
Moving to HSBC
It's no hassle to move to HSBC Bank - you'll experience a seamless transfer of your standing orders and Direct Debits. You'll receive your debit card and cheque book within five working days and your PIN (Personal Identification Number) within seven working days from the day they open your account. They'll get it right or they'll pay you £10 for each error.
Summary
HSBC - short for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited - is amongst the most popular UK high street banks. When you open a standard bank account you will get a Switch/Maestro card that you can use as a cashcard and debit card around the UK and abroad, a cheque book, internet and telephone banking and an overdraft facility. HSBC promise that it will be easy and simple to change your account over to them, and to reinforce this they promise to pay ten pounds for every promise they fail to fulfil. If you are at school, a student, a graduate, an international student or a new jobseeker then HSBC has a specially tailored option to suit you, simply click through to see how their rates and features compare.
The website is attractive and neat with clear sections so that you can see exactly what HSBC has to offer at a glance. If you are concerned about switching accounts then you can discuss it with a banking advisor live online in a chat window. You can also read up on the Premier option which is a 'first class' service that you can opt for if you want special personal attention and your own HSBC Premier Relationship Manager to support you over the telephone 24 hours a day.
With the HSBC Current Account you get free everyday banking - your Bank Account is free of charges in the UK for cheques, cash withdrawals from the HSBC/LINK network, Direct Debits, standing orders, automated bill payments and monthly statements.
You also get fee free 24/7 Internet Banking (subject to planned maintenance). Bank how you want to when you want to - you can check your balance, look at your statements or even pay your bills any time you like ? even in the middle of the night.
You get fee free arrangement of overdrafts up to £5,000 (subject to status) ? typical 14.8% EAR variable, free HSBC Bank international debit card (subject to status) and Price Promise Insurance ? Whenever you use your HSBC Bank international debit card to purchase branded goods on the UK high street, if you find the identical item for at least £10 less within 60 days, you could claim back the difference.
Moving to HSBC
It's no hassle to move to HSBC Bank - you'll experience a seamless transfer of your standing orders and Direct Debits. You'll receive your debit card and cheque book within five working days and your PIN (Personal Identification Number) within seven working days from the day they open your account. They'll get it right or they'll pay you £10 for each error.
Summary
HSBC - short for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited - is amongst the most popular UK high street banks. When you open a standard bank account you will get a Switch/Maestro card that you can use as a cashcard and debit card around the UK and abroad, a cheque book, internet and telephone banking and an overdraft facility. HSBC promise that it will be easy and simple to change your account over to them, and to reinforce this they promise to pay ten pounds for every promise they fail to fulfil. If you are at school, a student, a graduate, an international student or a new jobseeker then HSBC has a specially tailored option to suit you, simply click through to see how their rates and features compare.
The website is attractive and neat with clear sections so that you can see exactly what HSBC has to offer at a glance. If you are concerned about switching accounts then you can discuss it with a banking advisor live online in a chat window. You can also read up on the Premier option which is a 'first class' service that you can opt for if you want special personal attention and your own HSBC Premier Relationship Manager to support you over the telephone 24 hours a day.
posted by Barbara Gordon at 8:29 AM
HSBC Current Account
4 Comments:
I first joined HSBC looking for a solo card. I went to my current bank (The Derbyshire) and they hadn't even heard of it. So I went to the local HSBC branch. I asked if they did solo cards and the clerk handed me a leaflet to fill in. I did so there and then and was taken to a room where my account was set up. The whole thing took 20 min at MAX. I got a free savings account as well and a free gift. I had to barely do anything. HSBC has provided me with a place to put my cash so it is ready to be spent at any time, and they do a good job of it. 10 stars value for money, it was free.
I joined HSBC on a student account, mainly because of they introductary offer of £50 however I have been really pleased with them thanks to the way the bank bends over backwards to help you, out, the £10 overdraft buffer zone is also very usefull.
That said however the credit card interest is fairly high, and sometimes half of what you pay off goes towards pay of that months interest.
Last year, just before Christmas I decided to move my Current Account to HSBC. The reasons were that they are within walking distance, not a bus ride away, and we have had our Joint Current Account with them for many years without any hitches.
I rang them up and immediately got an interview with one of their Senior Cutomer Service Representatives. She was very helpful, filling in all the necessary documents, which included contacting my previous bank transferring all my funds, direct debits etc. All I had to do was sign the form. She also gave me the relevant forms to notify people that I had changed banks.
Whilst talking to her she gave me information on savings schemes and I decided to transfer my direct saver account as well. Again the necessary forms were filled in for me.
It was so easy. Years ago, when we first moved down to the South it was very time consuming writing loads of individual letters to everyone concerned. Mind you that was in the year dot when computers were not so suphisticated.
B warmed, I did make one mistake though. Never change to a different bank just before a Bank Holiday. By the time Christmas and the New Year were over my reserves got very low and I nearly started with HSBC in the red. I got very worried. The change over between the two banks took ages; of course it was not the fault of HSBC I should have waited until the New Year.
I also had some shares in my previous bank and decoded to sell them and reinvest the money. We I received the cheque I paid it into my new Direct Saver with HSBC. The interest in this account is very low and I noticed that HSBC had some great offers. I again made an appointment with Diane (the Senior Customr Service Representative at my local HSBC). This resulted in my investing in their High Interest Deposit Bond - there is a great interet rate of 5.25% AER fixed for a year. You get the same rate of interest whether you opt for a monthly or yearly interest payment.
Diane was great she again filled in the form and only a signature was required. All the staff at my local HSBC always have a smile and are very helpful.
If you are interested in this High Interest Deposit Bond there is a limit on the amount of depositsand the offer closes on the 31st January 2005; so if you are interested don't delay.
Having all my accounts at one bank is great, I can move money around using the HSBC Web Site. It is so easy and I can call off a statement at any time and see how my different accounts stand.
To sum up HSBC have some good offers at the moment and I have found the staff to be very helpful and pleasant, not robots on a phone on the other side of the World. Their website is easy to use and gives you all the latest information on investments etc.
Customer service.
They call themselves the local bank but for me they are as local and accessible as the Amazon Rainforest. I work full time, and on a weekend my local branch does not offer a counter service. I have moneybags full of copper at home that should be in my savings account earning me interest but I cant pay the money in!!!!
The people at my local branch have always offered me excellent service. But short of taking a day of work, or giving up my own time on a weekend, I can't see them. My local call centre is in India so when I call, and have been transferred around several times, a bit like the ball in a pin ball machine, I usually get mad and ask to speak to my local branch (which is 3 miles away). I'm told that I can't be transferred, but the call centre worker based in India can give them a call on my behalf, and then when someone is available locally they will call me back (This seems backwards to me) and usually never happens.
Unfortunately it is a sign of the times that we speak to machines and call centres, and other banks have taken similar steps, the HSBC is not alone, but while ever there is another option I will choose it. I have just opened up a new bank account with the Abbey (who I would recommend to other). They too have a call centre in India, but I can speak to my local Branch if I wish, in fact I did, the first time I called to open my account. I was transferred directly to the local branch to make an appointment. I spoke to a real person who advised me that the Abbey still has a manned counter service on a Saturday!! So that's where my moneybags are going.
Availability and quality of service
I had a mortgage with the HSBC (Now with the Chelsea building society). To be honest, their rates at the time were good, the service was good and the advise they gave me at the time was good so no complaints there.
I made the mistake of taking out all my protection/insurance with the HSBC, and when I change recently I found that some of the policies I had been paying for 3 years were really of no use to me. One was a form of insurance that would not have started to pay until I had been ill for 25 weeks, that's over 5 months. By this time I would have lost my house. I wanted to keep my payments cheap and this is obviously how HSBC managed it. This was only brought to my attention by my independent advisor when I was changing over (3 years later).
I would always seek independent advice before taking on any financial services in future because they give you impartial advice. Not to mention all my eggs were in one basket, I allowed my self to get tied in, so changing became more difficult.
I have a loan with the HSBC, and allowed my self to be talked in to getting the protection too. Here is what my financial adviser told me about this. The HSBC, (and many other Banks) will quote you a monthly amount in additional to your payment. For example, " your payment protection will only be an additional £5 per month", sounds cheap doesn't it? Well what they don't tell you is that if your loan is for 5 years say, they calculate the whole amount of the protection over the term, add it to the total amount of your loan so that you only have to make one payment, they get their protection money up front, and you then end up paying more interest over so all in all it costs you more. Plus if you have mortgage protection, income protection, life insurance, critical illness cover and all the rest, you don't need the protection anyway. So HSBC sold me something I didn't need, and now I'm paying extra interest on my loan until the term is ended. Again be careful and don't always trust the advise of your bank, seek independent advise first. Getting signed up for theses services is easy, if their selling you something, it gets sorted quickly.
Finally, the sales call, HSBC call you to sell you their products on a regular basis, and if you give them your mobile, they'll think nothing of calling it, even if you are at work when they call. My partner recently received a call from HSBC, wanting to sell him credit card protection. He wasn't sure if we needed it or not, so he asked them to send him the information in the post (so we could read the small print). The info arrived and we decided against taking out the protection. We simply didn't sign any of the authorisation forms. You can imagine our surprise then when a direct debit payment was taken from our account, for the protection we didn't want. When we complained the money was returned to us, but that's not the point, the HSBC took money from our account without our consent. This was the worst of a catalogue of complaints we have had with the HSBC bank recently.
Overall
The HSBC offers similar products to other banks, although their interest rates can often be beaten. If it's a personal, local service your looking for, don't be fooled by the name. Customer service is pretty poor, local counter services don't fit in with my full time working schedule, and don't exist at all at the weekend. I wouldn't recommend them as a service provider to others, however, they probably will offer their services such as loans and overdrafts, when no one else will? Just remember always ask for independent advise and shop around. This is more a list of personal experiences than a review, but if it prevents people from making the same mistakes that I did, it will have done its job.
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