HSBC: 6% (fixed) on Current Accounts for new **and existing** customers

Gromitt

But is it worth it for the £4.50 a month that you'll get? (£54 in total)

The Halifax is worth £5 as you don't need to leave the money in the account to get the reward.

If your thinking of moving to HSBC anyway, then sure, its worth it, but I don't think it's worth it just to grab the incentive.

10_66

I've just applied for the HSBC Bank Account and on clicking the final "apply" button, it just stated that the application had been received successfully. I'd have expected an automated email confirming the application had been received, but haven't had anything. Has anyone else received any sort of confirmation about whether the application's been successful or not or do we just have to wait for a postal response? They give you a link to complete a "switching form", which they say you can complete before you receive the welcome pack in the post, but it's a fat lot of good if you're not given confirmation that the account application's been successful and not given the account number and sort code?

Also (should my application be successful), does anyone know, once the standing orders have been transferred over to the new HSBC account, whether or not you have to keep the standing orders in force on the new HSBC account, or whether you can cancel them once they've gone out of the account for a certain number of times?


........

adelight

Sorry if these are dippy questions but I haven't moved accounts before. My phone contract counts as a DD, yes? Will my rent count as a DD/SO too even though I only pay it quarterly-ish? I will pay it in Jan and again in May. Or should I set up a DD from my current account into a savings account?
If I go into a HSBC branch and basically explain that I want the account and to set up a DD for savings, will they help me sort it or will they do everything possible to stop me getting this account?

Jammi

adelight wrote: »

Sorry if these are dippy questions but I haven't moved accounts before. My phone contract counts as a DD, yes? Will my rent count as a DD/SO too even though I only pay it quarterly-ish? I will pay it in Jan and again in May. Or should I set up a DD from my current account into a savings account?
If I go into a HSBC branch and basically explain that I want the account and to set up a DD for savings, will they help me sort it or will they do everything possible to stop me getting this account?

Your rent will count as a standing order regardless of the frequency of payments. If this has already been set up on your existing account, it will be transferred to your new account. The requirement for the HSBC offer is that you transfer 2 DD/SOs, so your existing payments should be sufficient.

You could also set up a standing order from your existing current account into a savings account, and that will also be transferred to your new account. You should note that in order to take advantage of HSBC's offer these DD/SOs should already be in place on your existing account. You will not benefit from the offer by asking HSBC to open the account and set up new payments.

VT82

I had the intention of setting one of these up. I already have a HSBC current account, but it is barely used as I switched to Halifax a while ago. I wanted to switch two standing orders, and fund the account myself with a standing order rather than switching my salary, to get the 6%.

I just went in, had to wait for a meeting room, and then wait another 15 minutes for him to find a switching form, only to be told that they would have to request to switch ALL direct debits and standing orders. When I said I just wanted to switch a couple of standing orders, and would that be OK? he said it would be as long as I switched my salary payments via their form. I said i wouldn't bother in that case.

I don't want to do a full switch as i am perfectly happy with Halifax and just wanted to squeeze the 6% out of them.

Does anybody know a way of getting this working? Can it be done over the phone? What would I need to say? I won't bother at all if I have to do a full lengthy switching process, when they weren't even offering a temporary 0% overdraft to ensure it goes smoothly.

Thanks!

Gromitt

I think most banks require a 'full switch' for any incentive, like co-op and Santander. You can't pick and choose.

This is why a lot of people here have redundant accounts. They are used for nothing but grabbing incentives. You setup a few SOs on the account and then tell the new bank to do a 'full switch'. I'd do this even if I was switching my main account, as I can then switch each SO/DD in turn manually a few days after the SO/DD is normally activated, rather than having to switch everything on one day.

The only bank that has requested salary so far however is the Halifax - they wanted at least £1000 deposit per month coming from an account that is not in your name (ie, your employer). Others just request a minimum deposit per month.

You can try and 'fake' the process by filling in their form but not giving it to your employer, or do they want to actually post it?

VT82

Ha! So I could walk into, I don't know, Barclays, open a current account, set up two £1 per quarter standing orders, and tell HSBC to switch me from that one? That's perverse. I love it! And at least the Barclays one can be closed at the same time to save the environment. Still not sure if it'll work with the salary thing, but I'll look into it

rb10

VT82 wrote: »

Still not sure if it'll work with the salary thing, but I'll look into it

There is no requirement to switch your salary to be eligible for the 6% HSBC account.

Otherwise, they'd instantly be excluding the self-employed and retired.

gld73

I was in my HSBC branch yesterday to transfer money as I have my current account there. They told me it would be free ..... but then at the end of processing the transaction, told me the cost would be £30. Turned out transferring to another UK bank account isn't free, it's just for transfers to some overseas countries that it's currently free. So if I'd been transferring money to buy a property in Pakistan it would have been free, but as I'm buying a house in the UK, it cost me £30 to send the money to my British solicitor. At least the bank staff had the decency to be a bit embarrassed that they'd got it wrong when they said it would be free.

Anyway, as I was in the bank, I asked what i needed to do to get the 6% interest on my current account, seeing as the offer said it was open to existing customers. Turns out it's not open to existing customers if you've already got your salary going into your account with HSBC - it's only open to customers who have another account and switch their salary and DDs/SOs to HSBC too. So a customer of 30 years can't get the interest, but someone who'll just stick around for the special offer can :mad:

horngkai

gld73 wrote: »

Anyway, as I was in the bank, I asked what i needed to do to get the 6% interest on my current account, seeing as the offer said it was open to existing customers. Turns out it's not open to existing customers if you've already got your salary going into your account with HSBC - it's only open to customers who have another account and switch their salary and DDs/SOs to HSBC too. So a customer of 30 years can't get the interest, but someone who'll just stick around for the special offer can :mad:

I think he probably got it wrong. The advisor I spoke to initially thought so as well but going through the T&C, it states that existing customer need to switch 2 DD/SO, no mention of salary, hence that is not required.