HSBC bank turned us away

blueb

My husband and I earn just over £75k per year between us. We bank with alliance and leicester. However, we both do some extra 'work on the side'-my husband is a freelance translator and I do locum GP shifts. Between us we currently earn an extra £25k per year. We were having some serious problems with A+L's inability to process most international payments, so decided to open a second account purely for our locum/translation work, making everything much more organised.
We have just been to our local HSBC and they refused to open any account for us other than a business account - which costs and arm and a leg per month, plus loads of extras we just don't need. We requested their most basic bank account but they point blank turned us down!
We just want a simple account to pay money into, then at strategic points throughout the year, pay large lump sums into out A+L savings account.
The major problem is with international payments, and A+L just don't seem up to scratch - are other banks any better with this? Would they offer us a basic account or are we missing the point here?!
Comments very welcome, thanks

olly300

Unfortuantely in the UK it seems all international transfers through banks cost a bit. Also there may be something wrong with your business model which doesn't fit the HSBC banking guidelines as HSBC are one of the easiest banks for small businesses to open accounts with.

Remember banks don't want people to have two current accounts as they don't make as much money from you so the easiest thing to do is to say to a bank I want to transfer my current account to you and then don't close your old account. (You do this by not ticking the form to close the account.)

You will have to transfer one or two direct debits over to the account and as long as the amount of money you have coming in or in the account is enough to cover their monthly minimum they will leave you alone.

This is how lots of people including myself have managed to get two current accounts.

Voyager2002

The best way to do international transfers is not through a bank but through a service like XE or Fidelity money funds.

A and L is generally poor in terms of service quality: I suggest that you investigate the banks that most customers recommend, such as Smile (my bank) or First Direct (which belongs to HSBC).

Debt_Free_Chick

If you tell any bank that the income is coming from "freelance" work, they will practically insist that you open a business account. Don't ask me why - other than to fleece you for the extra fees that are normally associated with each account.

Do you have a joint account with A&L? If so, you could simply try and open another current account, with a different bank, in your own name. You could tell them that you simply want your own account, separate to the joint account. But they will want to know how this new account is to be funded and they generally want a salary paid into it.

And, of course, you would be telling a white lie ....

jonesMUFCforever

What exactly does 'cost an arm and a leg' really mean in reality?
Especially as you claim to have an income of £100k per year and Banking costs for business accounts is a valid business expense.

Glad

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gt94sss2

blueb wrote: »

We just want a simple account to pay money into, then at strategic points throughout the year, pay large lump sums into out A+L savings account.
The major problem is with international payments, and A+L just don't seem up to scratch - are other banks any better with this? Would they offer us a basic account or are we missing the point here?!
Comments very welcome, thanks

You would probably have been better off just opening a standard (free) HSBC current account rather than asking for a 'basic account' - which is something that has a specific meaning and I suspect most banks wouldn't want to give you one (instead of their standard current accounts)

Can I ask what the problem is with A&L and international payments?

My parents recently opened HSBC Premier accounts which makes opening accounts overseas very easy as well as offering free transfers money between different HSBC branches/accounts overseas - and comes with a 'relationship manager' - a named individual who can sort any problems etc

For what its worth - HSBC also do a free business account called Business Direct which you may want to look at.. (and which may be more suitable than their standard business account)

You can apply for all these accounts online (apart from the 'basic account').. and then just go into a branch to show your ID etc..

Regards
Sunil