HSBC's New £120 Switch Offer

Nationwide8

Roseanne1 wrote: »

Why would they not just say on the external web site what income they deem acceptable and what they don't? It would save a lot of people wasting their time.

Yep,I said this back in June when I was one of the First rejected for the Advance and only offered the Basic account.Still think it's a way of HSBC getting people in the door,getting a lot of personal details out of them and then only offering them the product they didn't want in the first place.
After reading the rest of this thread from my initial posts it's ridiculous what ppl are going through to get the Advance,visiting a branch 4 times,applying 2-3 times because they lost the original application ?? Does all this sound like a bank you want to deal with ? Even for the incentives.

Well done though anyone that get the Advanced with little hassle !! Seems so dependent on which branch/advisor/manager you deal with.

Katiehound

I've had 2 x 1 hour appts- but only because I am about to go away and wanted everything sorted asap- posting stuff out means allowing at least an extra 4 days and I was told (on the phone) that there was a back log. In branch they can print off the paper work while you wait. I seem to have several dead trees worth!

I've had no hassle. I implied that my money would be coming from other bank accounts on a regular basis. Lady at the bank was delightful and chatty.

Advance a/c open, ISA a/c being processed, regular saver open and credit card also opened. Switch due to be completed Aug 11th.
Well pleased! Just hope mandatory DDs aren't introduced!
Thank you HSBC!!

jimjames

Roseanne1 wrote: »

Has anyone been accepted that is intending to fund the account by transferring money in and out from another bank? If so, I should mention that I was told that if the £1,750 was not made up entirely of eligible income, they would downgrade the account to the normal bank account.

I've heard that I've been accepted. I have no intention of funding the account with salary and it will be entirely from transfers from other accounts. However my salary and income is above that level so they may assess the account on that basis.

It remains to be seen if they raise an issue with that but I can't see how they can tell what the money is. There is no reason why you couldn't receive additional income such as rent which would come from another account and show as nothing different to a payment from your own external account.

Caladan

Roseanne1 wrote: »

Apparently, transfers from other bank accounts, not just HSBC ones, do not count. The lady I spoke to showed me a screen with eligible income, which included salary, pension and a whole host of others. She also showed me a list of ineligible income that included things like bereavement allowance and others that I cannot now remember. I stated that I did not see anything on the web site saying that you could not transfer from other banks, only that internal transfers were not allowed. She explained that their intranet had more details than the external web site and that was what was meant on my rejection letter by me not meeting the required internal scoring for the account. Having said this, there was nothing on the ineligible income mentioning transfers from other personal bank accounts so I asked her and she said "I can't remember where I read that".

I'm sorry but this is incorrect. The 'eligible income' you were referred too is not to do with Advance.

Advance is available to anyone who can fund £1750 a month excluding internal HSBC transfers. Reading the terms, transfers from your external accounts would be acceptable.

HOWEVER - The account is still credit scored, and if you don't pass the scoring criteria for Advance (which is presumably tougher than normal bank accounts as it offers extra features) they may just offer a bank account instead, even if you can pay in the £1750.

Roseanne1

Katiehound wrote: »

I've had 2 x 1 hour appts- but only because I am about to go away and wanted everything sorted asap- posting stuff out means allowing at least an extra 4 days and I was told (on the phone) that there was a back log. In branch they can print off the paper work while you wait. I seem to have several dead trees worth!

I've had no hassle. I implied that my money would be coming from other bank accounts on a regular basis. Lady at the bank was delightful and chatty.

Advance a/c open, ISA a/c being processed, regular saver open and credit card also opened. Switch due to be completed Aug 11th.
Well pleased! Just hope mandatory DDs aren't introduced!
Thank you HSBC!!

That all sounds positive. Even if they do introduce a DD requirement, that is easily sorted with Tesco bank internet savers.

Roseanne1

jimjames wrote: »

I've heard that I've been accepted. I have no intention of funding the account with salary and it will be entirely from transfers from other accounts. However my salary and income is above that level so they may assess the account on that basis.

It remains to be seen if they raise an issue with that but I can't see how they can tell what the money is. There is no reason why you couldn't receive additional income such as rent which would come from another account and show as nothing different to a payment from your own external account.

Congrats. You make a fair point about things like rent. I even asked about transferring money from my mother's account but she still said this wasn't allowed. I agree with whoever it was that said it depends who you speak to. The chap I spoke to on the phone, while offering no guarantees did not appear to see any issue with me funding money from other bank accounts.

Roseanne1

Caladan wrote: »

I'm sorry but this is incorrect. The 'eligible income' you were referred too is not to do with Advance.

Advance is available to anyone who can fund £1750 a month excluding internal HSBC transfers. Reading the terms, transfers from your external accounts would be acceptable.

HOWEVER - The account is still credit scored, and if you don't pass the scoring criteria for Advance (which is presumably tougher than normal bank accounts as it offers extra features) they may just offer a bank account instead, even if you can pay in the £1750.

Thanks for your comment. I thought it was rather weird myself as on the web site it does only exclude internal transfers from allowable sources of funding. The woman did comment on the extra benefits of the accounts when she was explaining the decision to me so it seems that may be their criteria for deciding not to offer the advance account. The guy I spoke to on the phone said she probably told me what she did because, in theory, I could miss payments more easily if the onus was on me to transfer them rather than a salary going in by BACS. I'll keep plugging away. I'm waiting to hear if there is any other feedback from the branch based on what the guy I spoke to on the phone told them we had discussed. If I fail this way, I will do what he suggested and phone after the offer of the ordinary bank account per their original letter expires.

colsten

From what I have read on MSE, HSBC staff seem to be particularly opinionated against customers. I reckon that, essentially, ignoring them would be a good strategy. As long as you are able to fulfill the conditions laid out in the T&Cs, there is no reason why you shouldn't receive benefits such as the switching bonus, Save Together bonus, and the 6% AER for Regular Savings.

If you do meet the T&Cs, and if any perk is declined, you can complain to HSBC, and even to the FOS should HSBC turn you down.

LunaNytshade

Sorry if this has been addressed, but would I be able to open a basic account elsewhere then request a switch even if the account is only a couple of weeks old?

DD123

LunaNytshade wrote: »

Sorry if this has been addressed, but would I be able to open a basic account elsewhere then request a switch even if the account is only a couple of weeks old?

Yes, as has always been the case with these things. You can switch whatever current account you want as part of the incentive. Though, if directly asked if it's your main account say yes. It's quite simple to do over the phone.