HSBC Advance minimum criteria

BoiledBreadTomatoSauce

Hi all

I'd like to switch to an HSBC Advance account as there's a £200 bonus for doing so, however I noted that they want to see £1750 a month going into the account. I am currently paid 4 weekly, not monthly, with a net income of £1735. However, I am paid 13 times a year and over the course of 12 months that averages out at £1879 per month.

Any ideas if this is worth applying or a waste of time? If ti involves a lot of hassle I'll just wait until April when my 4 weekly salary should go up over the £1750.

PRAISETHESUN

You can pay in either £1750/month or £10500 over a 6 month period, so your weekly income shouldn't be an issue. The monthly pay in doesn't actually have to be from your income - it could be your own savings just being passed back and forth between HSBC and an external account by standing order. HSBC are known to be a bit picky with who they offer an account to and usually reject people whose income isn't enough to cover the monthly pay in, but you won't know unless you try. From experience the process is slow, but it's worth it for the switching bonus and the 5% regular saver

BoiledBreadTomatoSauce

Thanks for the response - its' annoying because if I was paid monthly it wouldn't be a problem at all, but it only averages out over the threshold over 12 months, not 6!

etienneg

There are two distinct issues here.

Firstly, will HSBC accept your application? When you apply, you will just give your salary as £22,555 pa, which (as you say) exceeds their threshold. So there's no reason for automatic refusal. Of course, this doesn't mean you will be accepted, but you will only find out by trying.

Secondly, how do you arrange to fulfill the monthly pay-in requirement? For 11 out of 12 months your salary alone is not quite sufficient. That's why it was suggested that you have an account at another bank and transfer in/out by standing order. If you carry a sufficient balance in this (hopefully interest-paying) account, you can arrange the SOs on the same day (as it doesn't matter which is paid first) and thus not lose any interest. You need these to be for at least £15 (£1,735 + £15 = £1,750). Otherwise, pay at least £15 out of HSBC after your salary is credited (so doing it four weekly is probably best), and pay this back in several days later.

You could, of course, pay more than £15 out of HSBC and just £15 back in, thus building up your savings - killing two birds with one pair of SOs.

diamond_dave

Just opened this account- can anyone tell me if there is a minimum amount i need to keep in this? looked everywhere and couldnt find an answer.

[Deleted User]

No just the minimum monthly payments coming in

KTF

Assuming you get accepted, you can transfer in/out £500x3 and £250x1 (or whatever) each month as you will have still paid in £1750 a month just in chunks.

It doesnt have to be in one lump sum.

bluehydrangeas

I have applied for a HSBC Advance account on 3 occasions since last year. Each application was made when the switching offer was active. I've been declined each time. Only reason I can think of is that I don't meet the monthly income requirement. I have enough money in various accounts to easily satisfy the £1750 a month pay-in requirement, but this isn't enough to appease HSBC. It seems they only care about your monthly salary when considering applications.

Thrugelmir

bluehydrangeas wrote: »

It seems they only care about your monthly salary when considering applications.

Without sufficient income then the likelihood is that you are only going to hit the threshold by recirculating money.

datz

bluehydrangeas wrote: »

It seems they only care about your monthly salary when considering applications.

HSBC (and their brands) are a funny lot. Over this last year, I have been accepted for First Direct, but rejected for both HSBC Advance and M&S. And I'm not sure how much of it was to do with salary, because my income is far in excess of the HSBC Advance criteria. Perhaps they are just approving applications with a magic 8-ball.

Steve_xx

datz wrote: »

HSBC (and their brands) are a funny lot. Over this last year, I have been accepted for First Direct, but rejected for both HSBC Advance and M&S. And I'm not sure how much of it was to do with salary, because my income is far in excess of the HSBC Advance criteria. Perhaps they are just approving applications with a magic 8-ball.

I think it is very safe to assume that HSBC want to know that your monthly funding of the account is going to be from income derived from either salary and/or pension.

If the application looks like the £1750 monthly deposit can't be satisfied by one or a combination of these two streams, then I reckon rejection is likely.

They are definitely, in my experience, seeking to avoid funding from other bank/deposit accounts.