My bruises have bruises. I'm blaming the cheerleading. Review writing is a whole lot less dangerous....
My bruises have bruises. I'm blaming the cheerleading. Review writing is a whole lot less dangerous.
Member since:08.07.2001
Reviews:594
Members who trust:255
When I was at school, I used to change my mind regularly as to what I wanted to be when I “grew up”. I was open to most things, and so when the opportunity came up to spend a day on placement at HSBC (and skip school in the process) I jumped at the chance. It was a fun day – we got to play with lots of money, and stamp cheques and watch videos, and most importantly, we got to meet all the staff, most of whom were lovely. At the time I was unhappy with my current bank and looking for a change, so decided to open an account here.
A year and a half later, having just got my A Level results, which confirmed that I was off to UMIST (with 22 UCAS points to spare….), I needed to set up a student account, and so it seemed only natural that my first port of call would be HSBC once more, if only because it would be the easiest place since I already had an account with them, and so didn’t need to provide proof of my address and other mundane details.
** What You Need **
To be eligible for an HSBC student account, you must be 18 years old or older, and be enrolled on full time undergraduate course in the UK that will last at
least 2 years. This course should be a Masters, Bachelor, HND, HNC, NVQ Level 4 or similar – A Levels, GNVQs, SQA awards etc do not qualify. The only exceptions are disabled students who only need to be on a part time course, as long as they are also receiving a Disability Student Allowance.
To open an account you need to already have a normal HSBC account, or be eligible for LEA support (which most students are). You also have to provide proof of acceptance onto a qualifying course and, if you don’t bank with them already, some ID – passports and driving licences are both suitable, as are birth certificates, utility bills and so on. You need one month’s bank statements if you currently bank elsewhere, and proof of Disability Student allowance if applicable. Along with these, you need a completed application form you can pick up in the branch, or request from the website.
You also have to agree that they will be your main bank, and that you will pay money in regularly – a loan or your wages or, in my case, both.
** What You Get **
The current freebies are a choice between £50 cash, and a 4 year rail card – some of the most generous options around. As well as these, you get standard banky things including:
An interest free overdraft, which increases from £750 in year 1, up to £1500 in year 4 and £2000 in year 5 if applicable.
A Switch debit card which also doubles as a cash card here and abroad, and a cheque guarantee card. You can use Barclays and Natwest cashpoints free of charge, and also obtain cash from any LINK ones, although there may be a charge for this.
A cheque book and personalised paying in book.
Interest while in credit (if you can call 0.1% “interest”).
Student counsellors in near-uni branches, who are most friendly compared to stereotypical bankers, and who offer advice on money management etc.
1% commission charge on foreign currency – instead of the usual 2%.
** My Experience **
So far I have been pretty happy with the service I receive. One thing I like is that even when you ask them to bend the rules, they don’t say no instantly – instead they have a chat and look at your account history before making a decision. I needed to go outside my overdraft limit one day, but after they looked at my transactions, saw I was being paid into this account regularly and had never been over my limit before, they declared that it wasn’t a problem, and wavered the usual fine and interest charged. Similarly, I wanted to increase my credit limit on my MasterCard before I went to New York, so I rang them up to ask what they could do. They immediately said I could up it to £1000 (I stuck with £750 though, since an extra £500 plus me in New York shops would have been a bad mix) because I was paying the balance off in full each month by direct debit, and usually stayed well under my limit.
My banking life with them has not been prefect, however. Last year my purse was stolen from a decidedly dodgy Gay Village bar (which begs the question of what we were doing there in the first place) just before Christmas. They arranged for new cards to be sent to me, but these somehow ended up at the wrong Oxford Rd branch, despite me having given them the full address of the one I wanted them at. It took 15 minutes of arguing at my local one before they decided that they might be down at the Manchester University one, and another 10 minutes before they agreed to phone and check – their initial suggestion had been that I just pop over and see. It’s not that near, I was on my way to work and, being Manchester, it was raining, so it wasn’t the best idea I’d ever heard. More recently (Saturday, to be precise), I went in to the branch near work to find out how much commission they’d charge me on the US$ cheque I wanted to put into my account. None of the staff members knew, so they had to dig out their battered guide before they could tell me that it would be £6 for “normal” people, but they weren’t sure how much for students. Useful then.
Overall though, I am happy with HSBC, and at the moment see no reason to change. They’re much more efficient than RBS and Barclays in my opinion, and I can’t see any reason not to chose them to start off your student life with.
** For More Information **
www.hsbc.co.uk
08457 404 404
PO Box 757 Hemel Hampstead Hertfordshire HP2 4SS
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Well, HSBC didn't want me even though I had all the documents and all. The banks are especially fussy with international students. They didn't want to share me with Barclays which was quite a pity since I was happy to split the money between them... and it was substantial enough. Great to read opinions from Manchester -- nicely done!!
GR-Design 14.12.2002 13:28
Yer, for students they are great, wait till your not one and they will crap all over you charging you £27 for going even a penny over your limit and charging stupid interest rates for an overdraft and giving you 0.1% back for being in credit, way hey! They are not very helpful either when you have an ordinary account.
cyclone88 13.12.2002 07:29
I've been checking out the major banks (Barclay's etc.) Maybe I'll give HSBC a try
Dec 19th, 2001
(Dec 11th, 2002)
very helpful by (100%):
