Refused HSBC advance account??

Joisen

Hi all,

I recently applied online for an HSBC advance bank account as they are offering £100 to new applicants.

I received a letter back saying my application was declined following 'internal checks' but I am still welcome to apply for a standard account.

Now I earn £40,000 a year take home £2500 a month with a credit rating of 986 out of 1000 according to experian.

I called HSBC this evening and they said they cannot disclose what their 'internal checks' are??

Very disappointed does anyone understand what they are on about??:(:(:(

eskbanker

They'll have an internal scoring process to evaluate applications and if you don't meet their criteria for whatever reason then they'll decline without having any obligation to disclose why. HSBC may review your credit file via Experian and/or the other CRAs but the rating/score is, to all intents and purposes, made up - it won't be seen by HSBC and even if they could see it they'd ignore it....

SuperHan

I had a similar experience. It was because I have dormant current account with them that I haven't used since I was about 12. They said if I hadn't had that I would likely have been successful considering I have a mortgage with them that is paid on time every month.

Their advice to me was to open the standard account, cycle money through it and then try again.

Joisen

Thanks Superhan, That explains it

I have a dormant current account with HSBC which was closed about 6 years ago. I didn't realise this may influence the 'internal criteria' checks when applying for a new advance account.

Funny I had no problem getting an account with first direct which is part of the HSBC!

Krash420

I had the same thing, HSBC were my main back until I started work at which point I switched to First Direct. Once the moving accounts business started, I moved to Halifax and have used that ever since.

I wanted the Advanced Account mostly for the £120 ISA bonus that you get for having an Advance Account. I went to upgrade my account (which had by then actually downgraded to a Basic account), and was told that they can upgrade it to a current account, but they need to see money going in before they can upgrade it further. Two months later, I was able to upgrade before the £120 ISA loyalty bonus scheme was closed.

One thing though make sure the dormant account isn't still dormant and is actually closed, as if it's dormant you'll unlikely to get the £100 bonus as it may count as a current account with HSBC.

eskbanker

Joisen wrote: »

I have a dormant current account with HSBC which was closed about 6 years ago.

As above, that account must either be dormant or closed, it can't be both! Dormant generally means 'open but not in regular active use' (but available for reactivation), whereas closed would be irreversibly shut down.

Joisen wrote: »

Funny I had no problem getting an account with first direct which is part of the HSBC!

This may have influenced their decision, since both FD and HSBC would like to be seen as your 'main account' into which your salary is paid, so by applying for accounts with both this may have been seen as a negative. HSBC are quite picky about their Advance account according to others' experiences on here....

badger09

eskbanker wrote: »

This may have influenced their decision, since both FD and HSBC would like to be seen as your 'main account' into which your salary is paid, so by applying for accounts with both this may have been seen as a negative. HSBC are quite picky about their Advance account according to others' experiences on here....

I doubt it. I opened a FD account in July 2014 and an HSBC Advance account in January 2015. Neither is my 'main account'

Jackthedog

Advance is the only account I have ever been refused..and I more than met al their criteria! Very much their loss as I was actually going to use it as my main account and take up their cash ISA offer!

Still no idea why ...

Paul_1977

As I have said before, a family member was able to get this account earning 30k per year, they also had loans with HSBC over 10k.

Very strange.

Turtle

Jackthedog wrote: »

Advance is the only account I have ever been refused..and I more than met al their criteria! Very much their loss as I was actually going to use it as my main account and take up their cash ISA offer!

Still no idea why ...

Not really their loss as the ISA is a loss leader so you wouldn't have been a profitable customer for them unless you took our further products they made money from.

OP - if you've had a current account with them before it's worth checking you'd be eligible for the £100 anyway. fd won't pay it in these circumstances and like you say, they are part of the same group.

Archi_Bald

Turtle wrote: »

OP - if you've had a current account with them before it's worth checking you'd be eligible for the £100 anyway. fd won't pay it in these circumstances and like you say, they are part of the same group.

FD and HSBC have very different eligibility criteria for the switching bonus. It's all in the T&Cs. https://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/PA_esf-ca-app-content/content/pws/content/personal/pdfs/GBP120_HSBC_Advance_Bank_Account_Switching_Offer_Terms.pdf