HSBC > Reviews (210)

Founded in 1865 the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking corporation has, for the last one hundred years or so, merged and acquired its way through the worlds banking establishments until, in 1999, it crashed in on us as HSBC replacing the more familiar Midland Bank we all knew and loved (?)

With the slogan ‘The worlds local bank’ HSBC is indeed a massive organisation, with 7000 offices worldwide and a customer base of around thirty two million, you can see why they would want to capitalise on their size without scaring the customers away with the threat of it being a huge, faceless corporation.

But as we all know, size isn’t everything, its what you do with it that counts. So how do HSBC measure up when it comes to plebs like me and (dare I say it) you?

I opened my current account in 1998 tempted, as I am rather fickle, by their offer of a left handed chequebook. Later on I opened an instant accesssavings account and I have recently opened a joint account with them, so I’m a bit of a HSBC junkie when it comes to bank accounts.

Opening an Account:

When I opened my first account I went into the branch with my two forms of ID and was taken into a little room to do the necessary. My savings account was opened over the phone, as I did not need ID due to already being a customer. My part of the joint account was completed over the phone but my other half had to take some ID into a branch in order to complete the application. Obviously this is due to the need to follow the appropriate regulations and not just HSBC being pedantic.

I transferred all of my direct debits from my personal account into the joint instantly over the telephone. For my other half to get all his payments transferred from his own bank account he had to fill in a form allowing HSBC to get a list from his bank, he then checked and signed to say he wanted then transferred and they did all the leg work for him, this process took about two weeks.

Overall I found the account opening process to be fairly painless.

Current Account:

With my personal current account I have a £50 buffer zone, this is a little safety net for when you go just a tiny little bit over drawn. It is completely free and as far as I am aware it comes as standard on HSBC current accounts.

The Joint account, or the bills account as we call it, has a £200 overdraft facility. This facility is free to the account but interest is charged daily when you use it. We were offered £500, but didn’t want that much.

We each have a multifunction card (switch, cash machine, £100 cheque guarantee) and a chequebook (I got to have a left handed one for the joint account too). We also got a nice little pen, ring binder and box file.

Savings Account:

The savings account is absolutely nothing to write home about what so ever. The interest rate is currently around 0.75% pa and hardly competitive with some of the accounts on the market. However, I kept the account due to the fact that funds can be transferred between account almost instantly and I find it useful to keep £100 in there for times when I need a little extra cash urgently to top up the current accounts.

I would definitely not recommend this as a serious savings account but it is quite good to use as a slush fund.

Telephone Banking.

HSBC’s telephone banking service, while not being 24hr, has extensive opening ours covering time that most reasonable people would want to ring up and talk about banking. Currently hours are 8am-10pm seven days a week although this is, of course, subject to change.

In order to actually speak to a person you will first need to follow a few security steps. These begin with entering your branch sorting code and account number, your date of birth and selected digits from a given security number. I have much confidence in the security of my details on the telephone banking service.

You can do pretty much anything on the phone with them, pay bills, transfer money and so on and so forth. Matters that require a signature will still need to be dealt with either by post or at the branch.

I usually manage to speak to a real live person within five-minutes, the longest I have been on hold for was 30 minutes on a Monday morning at 9am.

Internet Banking:

Now this is the jewel in HSBC’s crown, apart from the left-handed chequebook this is the best thing they do.

The site is simple to look at and quite intuitive, with a separate log in area for business and personal customers. The banking area and log in screen is a separate pop-up window from the rest of the site and yes, it does work in Opera.

Entry is by way of a long ID number supplied to you on a little credit card thing, I’ve memorised mine now, and a security number between 6 and 10 digits long. Not as secure as the telephone service but I’m still confident it’s safe.

I have all my accounts set up here, so I can see them all at once, and I can transfer cash between them at will. There is the facility to set up payments from your account by either entering the account number and sort code (I paid my keep to my mum this way for years) or by picking for an extensive list or organisations from catalogue companies to local councils. Payments can be set up for up to a year in advance.

You can view and cancel direct debits on the site, a facility I find particularly useful.

Personal details, address, phone number etc, can be changed on the site. You will receive an email and letter noting that your details have been changed as an added security measure.

In my two years of using the online banking facility I can remember only one instance where I have been unable to log on, which is pretty good I think.

If you are inactive on the screen for 15 minutes then the site will log you out of the banking facility and you will have to re-enter, a nice little security feature.

I love this service; I have had a go with Barclays and Lloyds TBS online and found then to be nowhere near as good. Maybe it’s just me stuck in my ways but I find the simplicity of the site, both in its look and functionality, to be preferable to what they have to offer.

Customer Services:

I’m sure we’d all agree that it’s the customer services that can make or break your relationship with an organisation.

It is rarely a mistake happening that will drive a customer away but what happens after the mistake occurs.

In the past I’ve closed credit accounts, cancelled credit cards and even closed a bank account due to appalling customer service. I will not tolerate being messed around regardless of how much trouble changing causes me.

HSBC however have been faultless. Perhaps an example would illustrate this best:

I mentioned earlier that I had all of my direct debits transferred from the personal account to my joint account. I also transferred some money to make sure they would be paid.

What I wasn’t told was there were two, rather large, direct debits pending on the account. I was horrified to find the next time I logged on to next my balance that I was almost £300 overdrawn on an account with only a £50 buffer zone.

I rang them up immediately, at 9pm, and explained my problem. The operative first admitted it was their fault, apologised, then transferred the money back into the personal account. She placed a note on the account to make sure I wasn’t charged an unauthorised overdraft fee. I put the phone down satisfied.

The next day I received a call from someone at the branch my account is held with, they said they’d noticed hat I had called the night before, apologised again and confirmed that I would definitely not be charged for going overdrawn.

Now I’m not silly and I now they probably get some kind of daily report detailing calls from customers at their branch, but it was still a nice touch and exactly the kind of service you want from a bank.

Other Services:

Now I haven’t taken any other services with HSBC and probably wont either, but due to the wonderful practice of cross selling I have refused countless numbers of products, so here’s a little list of what I have been offered in the past:

When I opened my savings account: have you considered a pension?
Opening the joint account: Would you like a gold card?
Telling them we were buying a house: Did you ask for a quote on our mortgages?
The email confirming my change of address: Ring for a quote on contents insurance.
Arranging a direct debit: would you like details of our ISA’s?

Full details of HSBC’s full range of services can be found at www.hsbc.co.uk

Overall:

Although HSBC may not offer the most competitive interest rates I find their customer services and online facilities to be excellent. I’ll stick with them until they do something to annoy me, but on past experience I cant see that happening.