HSBC £125 switch bonus

Jemsnation

gazzaman28 said:

I've finally had some communication with HSBC. My account is open, my card & PIN are on their way, and they've set my switchover date to be 9th November. Anyone who has already gone through this, how easy is it to get onto online banking once you have a card? Do you have to apply separately for that?

You will get sent a telephone banking security number in the post (eventually). I got impatient waiting and ended up going into a branch on a Friday to set it up there and got it issued in the post on the Monday.
Setting up online banking for me was an absolute mission. I was on the phone to customer services for over an hour sorting it out but the guy who was dealing with the issue was very patient, more patient than me, and it eventually got sorted. It's worth noting that it's nothing that he did wrong but more a case of "computer says no". All sorted now and just waiting for my £125 switching bonus.

Robin9

Its a bit of a slow process and HSBC's help system is unhelpful.   

My switch got completed yesterday and after a phone call today found the bonus gets paid in 30 days.

Officer_Dibble

My card came swiftly after applying a couple of days ago, so I enthusiastically phoned up for a telephone banking number so I could use the app (yes, that doesn't make sense to me either). If anyone sticks with them once they've got their switching bonus I'd be amazed - 20 minutes wait to choose a number. 2 memorable words to give. Bizarrely, ringing the number they tell you to ring to get a telephone banking security number, you have to enter the card number, only for them to say that they can't process the call because you haven't got a telephone banking security code set up. You then ask what you want, with a fair wind the computer recognises what you want and you spend 20 mins on hold waiting for a real human somewhere in the world, who asks you the same info that you typed into your phone 20 mins earlier. First time I called Mrs Computer thought I wanted business banking, and there was no going back, other than hanging up and calling again.

Then signing up for the app you need a user name and FIVE other pieces of memorable info/passwords. So much memorable info that Mr Memory himself would never remember them, so you'll need to compromise security by writing them down somewhere. Your first employer has to have 6 characters or more, so bad news if it was the NHS or Boots! The app itself seems very flaky - slow to let you enter info for example and quick to lock you out if you enter any of the info wrongly (which is almost inevitable). Oh, and you never again use the magic number you had to ring up to set up.

I was left with the overwhelming impression that they're a shambolic organisation and I can't wait to leave them ASAP. A shame really when the initial application process was so painless. I should have known it wouldn't last.

Tragen

Helen28 said:

I got my £125 and I haven't  paid any money in yet though  it took me 2 weeks before I got online banking set up after the switch.

Did you get any kind of notification that the £125 had been paid? SMS/email?

I've tried to sign up for online banking, but am met with "system error". I'm thinking I wont even bother trying to resolve it with hsbc cs if i can avoid it. I'll just switch it to another account.

billn

Officer_Dibble said:

My card came swiftly after applying a couple of days ago, so I enthusiastically phoned up for a telephone banking number so I could use the app (yes, that doesn't make sense to me either). If anyone sticks with them once they've got their switching bonus I'd be amazed - 20 minutes wait to choose a number. 2 memorable words to give. Bizarrely, ringing the number they tell you to ring to get a telephone banking security number, you have to enter the card number, only for them to say that they can't process the call because you haven't got a telephone banking security code set up. You then ask what you want, with a fair wind the computer recognises what you want and you spend 20 mins on hold waiting for a real human somewhere in the world, who asks you the same info that you typed into your phone 20 mins earlier. First time I called Mrs Computer thought I wanted business banking, and there was no going back, other than hanging up and calling again.

Then signing up for the app you need a user name and FIVE other pieces of memorable info/passwords. So much memorable info that Mr Memory himself would never remember them, so you'll need to compromise security by writing them down somewhere. Your first employer has to have 6 characters or more, so bad news if it was the NHS or Boots! The app itself seems very flaky - slow to let you enter info for example and quick to lock you out if you enter any of the info wrongly (which is almost inevitable). Oh, and you never again use the magic number you had to ring up to set up.

I was left with the overwhelming impression that they're a shambolic organisation and I can't wait to leave them ASAP. A shame really when the initial application process was so painless. I should have known it wouldn't last.

You seem to have had the same exeirience as me, I do wish the site had explained more clearly that you can have a physical security key rather that the app, I am only keeping mine open for the regular saver and even that is up for review in a few months, if I have anymore problems I will close it (cutting off my nose to spite my face) maybe but I don't think it's worth the hassle.

Helen28

Tragen said:

Helen28 said:

I got my £125 and I haven't  paid any money in yet though  it took me 2 weeks before I got online banking set up after the switch.

Did you get any kind of notification that the £125 had been paid? SMS/email?

I've tried to sign up for online banking, but am met with "system error". I'm thinking I wont even bother trying to resolve it with hsbc cs if i can avoid it. I'll just switch it to another account.

No notification, when I eventually manage to sign in online the £125 was just there.
I then cancelled the 2 standing orders that were switched and transferred the £125 plus what was transferred from my old account.
The account now has a balance of £0.00 and I will wait until the next switching bribe, if I will ever be eligible. 

Jemsnation

Now mine is up and running it's all fine, just took a little while to get to this point! Have opened the regular saver and will see how I get on.

gazzaman28

In a world where you can set up a Monzo or Starling account and be logged into it and using it within a few minutes and before the card even arrives in the post, I really don't understand how big banks are so far behind the curve with this. I'll give them a few months and then see what else is available, but you'd think they'd want their customers to stay once they got the bribe money wouldn't you!

GINGERBIRD67

My transfer was last Thu 22nd and thats when the nightmare started. Tried to follow logging in procedure but no joy. Rang thru got help still didn't work. Rang again and at this point I wanted to close the account. So now I have to log in to online banking then go to the app and request a code to open the online page. If you're not quick enough to enter the code (30 secs) you have to generate another one.
Also you can only have the app on one appliance which means if its on yr phone you have to jiggle between the 2 pages. I'm not keen on the page layout either. So all in all I shall be leaving as soon as possible.

David28

I couldn't even get the app to work on my phone because it is Android Go.
I had to install it on my tablet which wasn't very convenient for me so I asked about a digital thing, I'm getting that in about 10 days but because I am getting a digital thing my tablet app was deactivated and now the only way I can access my account is on the phone and only at the weekend because I have to pay for 03 calls during the week and the last time I was on hold for 30 minutes.
I used an old account of my wife's to start another switch but I am just going to check using an ATM ant the second the £125 is in the account it will come out as cash and I won't bother about the regular saver.
Luckily I had set up a standing order for my regular saver so I have a year to get online again.
In my opinion setting up and using HSBC's online banking is a farce.