HSBC any good for a current account?

97trophy

If you want service then its very hard to beat First Direct.

I find hsbc very tight with loan and credit card limits. Plus I am not a fan of their call centres.

For day-to-day stuff I lean towards Natwest - but their branch staff are very pushy. UK call centres are great.

telecomengineer

I swapped from Santander to HSBC back in April, much better service all round...

Mols

I have been banking with HSBC for the past 12 months and have been very pleased so far. I have their Premier Account which has so far provided excellent customer service both in branch and also over the phone. Good online banking too.

I had previously banked with Barclays for over 20 years but after a series of problems spanning 3 years I made the move after careful consideration.

I have recently opened a business account with HSBC too which is also proving to be equally as good.

Would recommend them based on my experiences so far.

nellynerd

Opened a HSBC current account about a year ago. Very good experience so far. I moved from nationwide because they weren't introducing the fast payments system fast enough!

I changed jobs and my pay day changed to last day of the month. As a result, my rent day and my pay day were often the same. Because NW at that stage weren't doing fast payments at all, I had to toddle down the road each month with 1100 in cash to pay it directly into the landlord's account, otherwise the landlord would get stung with mortgage-not-paid fees. Didn't feel very safe doing that.

HSBC do the same payment the same day. Although NW now do fast payments, it's patchy and they still don't accept fast payments very 'fast'. It can take a good few hours to come through, or even next day.

Anyway, HSBC...

NEGATIVES

• HSBC call centres can be a nightmare and it can take an age to get put through to your branch (if at all).
• I have some niggles with the way the online banking works. NW online banking is more user friendly in some respects.
• Interest rates are rubbish.

POSITIVES

• Account opened at a local branch - staff v friendly and helpful.
• Fast payments!
• Overdraft fees have been cheaper for us.

HSBC has more than one type of current account. They keep offering the advance account but it's got a £12 a month fee (6 for first few months). Not great value for money for us now. Maybe when we're multimillionnaires!

Lokolo

HSBCs the one of the best rated online banking! I haven't used Natwests but have seen my friends and glad I don't have an account with them! But I guess each to their own.