There seems to be a distinct lack of reviews on banks "Premier", high value customer services. Most of the banks on the high street now offer a service for high income, high worth individuals. However, the services and products available are rarely known, even by the customers who supposedly benefit from them!
HSBC Premier has been a worldwide service for many years. Being the second biggest bank in the world HSBC has honed and expanded Premier Service to become one of the most prolific banking services today without the major costs that Private banking entails.
Its criteria are threefold. A mandated salary of £75k or joint of £100k. Savings/Investments of £30k plus or a mortgage of +£150k. By meeting one of these criteria the benefits are endless.
One of the latest benefits of HSBC Premier is its Premier International service. If you have ever tried to move country I do not need to tell you of the problems endured. For one, you have no credit history in the country being moved to. How many times have you been told to hire a TV or electrical appliance so that you can eventually generate a credit history so that you can apply for a credit card or similar credit facility? Premier International not only helps to set up bank accounts in the country you are going to before you get there, but it also transfers your credit history. This even extends to getting a mortgage similar to what is available to what you would "score" for in your home country.
Premier International also allows you to transfer funds over the internet between countries. Say you’re an expat moving to UAE to work on an oil contract and you have a mortgage in the UK on your UK property. You could be paid offshore, or locally in UAE and still manage all of your UK assets by transferring required funds when and where you want them.
On a more local basis, HSBC Premier provides you with, I believe, the most valuable asset a bank can give you.....A personal bank manager. And I don’t mean some name of a banker that you can never get a hold of. I mean email, direct numbers and an ongoing relationship. The problem with many large institutions is that if there is a problem you phone a call center and explain everything, nothing is done and you phone again two days later to get and update only to find out that you have been passed through to a call center half way round the globe and no chance what so ever of speaking to the same person.
With HSBC Premier, you know who you’re speaking to and can sit back and relax knowing that you’re getting the best service around.
Add to all of the above, the fact that you get preferential rates on many services and no excess fees when you accidentally go over your overdraft limit. Plus a personal touch from a manager at a bank rather than just getting endless mail shots where the bank hopes you may just answer one, I think that HSBC Premier is one of the, if not the, best services that any individual can get. It identifies you as an individual, and how many of us can say that we have that kind of service from their bank!?
Oh yeh, I hear many of you asking how much does it cost, well let m put it this way, you meet the criteria, you pay nothing! Anyway, for that kind of service so what if you did have to pay. If you earned £100k per year would you pay more to go to Hawaii instead of Majorca? Or go to a fast food outlet or a Top notch restaurant?
I rest my case.
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Oct 24th, 2004
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