hsbc incredibly poor savings...anyone else think the same?

ianbar0

i know savings rates are not good so dont shout at me! lol however...im pretty sure mine are worse than anywhere on the planet! my reg saver is good happy with that but for instance i have 8k in there isa...£1.40 interest last month my dad with £3700 in his barclays isa got £9 last month! so first up thats just wrong surely? my reg saver ends nov and i have some more money that i will hve in jan which will total around 5k but not sure whats best. i am going to my bank tomorrow but would like a few thoughts from people before i go! ta

agsnu

If you don't like HSBC's savings rates, move your money elsewhere. HSBC has been seen as more stable and secure than many others, and so hasn't had to offer such competitive rates. Going into the bank won't make a blind bit of difference.

As always, look at the tables for the best savings accounts (moneyfacts.co.uk, FSA, etc)

rb10

HSBC does not tend to give high savings rates, it's just the way they are.

Look at this thread: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=401374 on here for places that you can transfer your ISA to. Ask for an ISA transfer form from the bank you want to open the ISA at and they will arrange the transfer from HSBC for you.

ianbar0

thats what i was dreading really, so on a whole which couple of banks are better for rates...i know a general question but a rough idea. i would much rather walk into a bank and open accounts etc than starting up online

p00hsticks

ianbar0 wrote: »

i would much rather walk into a bank and open accounts etc than starting up online

...that's your choice, but bear in mind that it costs a lot more money to support a branch network that to run accounts online or by phone or post, so branch-operated accounts will almost always give a lot worse interest rates than online / postal / telephone accounts.

1618

Hi i have been an HSBC customer for some 20 years and the last 5 years a premier customer with a in branch relationship manager,over the last 8 months i have removed 4 large accounts from them totalling 100k plus.The manager does not bother and shrugs his shoulders and says the more people withdraw it may make them the make the decision makers sit up and realise the very poor rates they are offering,earlier in the year they offered new ISA rates for this years investments but refused me the opportunity to transfer previous years ISAS which i had with the bank so i transferred the lot elsewere and afterwards they changed their minds because so many premier clients jumped ship.I have one account with them which i intend to move in 3 weeks when it matures because they have insulted me with an offer of 2.70% for a 50K one year bond!

Jonbvn

1618 wrote: »

Hi i have been an HSBC customer for some 20 years and the last 5 years a premier customer with a in branch relationship manager,over the last 8 months i have removed 4 large accounts from them totalling 100k plus.

We are also premier customers with HSBC. From our perspective, given events over the last year regarding bank failures we have been happy to be with the only bank that has not really had problems. However, at present we do keep the minimum in HSBC to maintain premier status, with money spread around various banks/BS's and other investments.

jimbow25

ianbar0 wrote: »

thats what i was dreading really, so on a whole which couple of banks are better for rates...i know a general question but a rough idea. i would much rather walk into a bank and open accounts etc than starting up online

It's difficult to give a hard and fast answer to this - some banks offer great rates on some accounts and terrible on others. Some seem to be pretty poor all round.

There's no bank that makes me think "I could open an ISA, a monthly saver, a fixed term bond and a current account with that bank - they'd all have pretty good rates" - at least one would be uncompetitive, probably several.

Have a look at the best buy tables linked above and find an account you like that has a branch locally.

Abbey are offering 3% on transfers in over £9,000 at the moment (Direct ISA Issue 3) but they are as bad as anyone for letting their rates drop - as the account name suggests there is often a new account issue, each year normally. If you transfer there you'll probably want to transfer again in a year's time. Their competitive ISA accounts from 2006, 2007 and 2008 (Postal and Direct ISA under various names) - now all pay 0.1% or 0.15% interest.

1618

Hi John BVN,i have ameeting with HSBC in 3 weeks time regarding the Premier status because if i remove the money from the 1 year bond i will fall a long way short of the premier criteria.I had a meeting some 3 months ago and advised that if they decide to remove the status i would completely sever ties with the bank and they would lose some 30k credit card business per annum plus 2 fair size salaries per month and i was advised they would discuss the situation because they did not want to lose my account.

Aegis

1618 wrote: »

Hi John BVN,i have ameeting with HSBC in 3 weeks time regarding the Premier status because if i remove the money from the 1 year bond i will fall a long way short of the premier criteria.I had a meeting some 3 months ago and advised that if they decide to remove the status i would completely sever ties with the bank and they would lose some 30k credit card business per annum plus 2 fair size salaries per month and i was advised they would discuss the situation because they did not want to lose my account.

I would imagine you'll be given the choice of paying a fee or using the bank's IFA service to take out a pension, protection or investment product. If you can't or won't do that, chances are the premier manager will offer to downgrade the accounts for you to the standard current account.

Jonbvn

1618 wrote: »

Hi John BVN,i have ameeting with HSBC in 3 weeks time regarding the Premier status because if i remove the money from the 1 year bond i will fall a long way short of the premier criteria.I had a meeting some 3 months ago and advised that if they decide to remove the status i would completely sever ties with the bank and they would lose some 30k credit card business per annum plus 2 fair size salaries per month and i was advised they would discuss the situation because they did not want to lose my account.

IMHO the benefits of premier status are nothing special. The main one for us was a lower mortgage rate.

A few times they have tried the "computer says no" approach. I usually email my relationship manager that I will be closing our accounts, which has yielded positive results.

Remember banks and BS are now fighting for business from customers like us!