HSBC Advance

P933alilli

Hi, i gather that to qualify for the free £175 for this account £1750 needs to be funded each month. Has this got to be left in the account or can it then be withdrawn to fund another account?

techwatcher

The HSBC Advance account is a current account and the monthly £1750 does not have to remain in the account.

I opened the account to get their Regular Saver - my monthly £1750 is in the account for approximately 30 seconds before it is transferred to somewhere more profitable.

xylophone

I opened the account to get their Regular Saver

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/savings/products/regular-saver/

It used to be that the Advance Account gave a preferential rate for the RS but alas no more - I'm on the last 5% deal at the moment.

Some years back I remember they offered 8% and an Advance account wasn't required - the glory days.....:) but of course inflation was much higher then.

polymaff

xylophone wrote: »

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/savings/products/regular-saver/

It used to be that the Advance Account gave a preferential rate for the RS but alas no more - I'm on the last 5% deal at the moment.

Some years back I remember they offered 8% and an Advance account wasn't required - the glory days.....:) but of course inflation was much higher then.

Let's dig some facts out.

Ten years ago, the rate for my preferential(?) HSBC Regular Saver was 10%. Now, with the better rate history, the only rate is 2.75%

Today, the RPI is 2.2% - and ten years ago? A hardly "much higher" 2.4%

Pretty grim - and set to get worse...:(:(:(

EDIT: Incidentally, that 2.4% figure for December 2009 was quite an anomaly. The RPI for the whole of 2009 was -0.5%

Yes, that is a minus sign...;)

onaflamingpie

I was rejected for the HSBC Advance account when I applied online 22/01/2020.
Directed to apply for their basic account. I made it clear that I can easily afford to pay well above the required monthly amount for the next 20 years. My credit rating is near maximum.

So I can only guess at the reason for rejection, which is probably that I am unemployed (not claiming benefits) and have income from savings only. Yet my finances mean I could easily meet all the account criteria for many years.

I think the main MSE site should make it clearer that if you are unemployed, you are very likely to be rejected for the HSBC Advance account and should not risk applying.

polymaff

Could you not, without lying, have portrayed yourself in a better light?

Mind you, you need a bit over £1m at 2% to meet HSBC's "income" criterion.

YorkshireBoy

onaflamingpie wrote: »

I think the main MSE site should make it clearer that if you are unemployed, you are very likely to be rejected for the HSBC Advance account and should not risk applying.

The MSE site already says...

MSE_Site wrote:

Under the account's terms, you need to pay in £1,750/mth, or pay in £10,500 over a six-month period (good if your earnings are irregular, for example). If you can't meet the minimum pay-in, the account will just change to its regular bank account. We've had reports that HSBC asks for income levels when you apply, so jemmying the pay-in may not be possible for this account.

If I was unemployed that would be enough to put me off.

xylophone

HSBC Regular Saver was 10%.

I must have missed that one...:mad::)

eskbanker

onaflamingpie wrote: »

I think the main MSE site should make it clearer that if you are unemployed, you are very likely to be rejected for the HSBC Advance account and should not risk applying.

You're equating correlation with causation and, as you admit, you're only guessing the reason for your rejection, so can hardly generalise on that basis.

However, there are various warnings on the main MSE site bank account page, including HSBC specifically at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts/#hsbc:

What if I can't pay in £1,750/mth?

Under the account's terms, you need to pay in £1,750/mth, or pay in £10,500 over a six-month period (good if your earnings are irregular, for example). If you can't meet the minimum pay-in, the account will just change to its regular bank account. We've had reports that HSBC asks for income levels when you apply, so jemmying the pay-in may not be possible for this account.

This subject comes up pretty regularly, see this thread for some more debate about it: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6004490/hsbc-advance-account-switching-cashback-175

polymaff

xylophone wrote: »

I must have missed that one...:mad::)

Just preceded the 8% one.

Mind you, as an old g1t I tend to use decades as my basic unit of time...:)

And RPI, as it has not been so played about with over the last few decades as poor old knocked-abaht-a-bit CPI...:):)

MDMD

xylophone wrote: »

I must have missed that one...:mad::)

It was only on the fee paying accounts

https://www.moneywise.co.uk/savings/savings-accounts/hsbc-launches-10-savings-account

Off topic a bit but there was also the Halifax one which had a 10% rate in 2008, which rose to 12% if you had £5k in a separate account some of which were themselves paying 5-6%.....

https://www.moneywise.co.uk/news/2008-06-09%E2%80%8C%E2%80%8C/halifax-launches-regular-savings-account-paying-10

I think I had all my money with Icesave!