HSBC

billn

I know some people said that HSBC can be somewhat difficult but I didn't realise how much.

I have just opened a Advance account really for the incentive and the regular saver, it took some doing trying to get online banking set up and I find it a bit of a pain to login but I could live with that, what has really put me off is, I moved some money from another account (not the same bank) and then tried to move some of it back and have just had a call from the HSBC fraud team asking why I wanted to move it back (that's a very short version of the call) they then wanted me to go into a branch with ID to get the money unfrozen, I complained about this so they said they would sent me a letter with instructions to ring them again money frozen. I then received a further call to say that on this occasion they money would be transferred and would I be moving money again to which I said yes.

HSBC didn't seem keen on me moving money so maybe it's not the bank for me.

Sorry about the rant (second on about HSBC) but this may help anyone else who has problems with them.

Ed-1

billn said:

I know some people said that HSBC can be somewhat difficult but I didn't realise how much.

I have just opened a Advance account really for the incentive and the regular saver, it took some doing trying to get online banking set up and I find it a bit of a pain to login but I could live with that, what has really put me off is, I moved some money from another account (not the same bank) and then tried to move some of it back and have just had a call from the HSBC fraud team asking why I wanted to move it back (that's a very short version of the call) they then wanted me to go into a branch with ID to get the money unfrozen, I complained about this so they said they would sent me a letter with instructions to ring them again money frozen. I then received a further call to say that on this occasion they money would be transferred and would I be moving money again to which I said yes.

HSBC didn't seem keen on me moving money so maybe it's not the bank for me.

Sorry about the rant (second on about HSBC) but this may help anyone else who has problems with them.

Transferring in from an external bank and transferring straight back out again on a new account for which you have no previous history with the bank is always going to trigger fraud checks. Natwest group similarly send a text saying account is blocked in this situation.

NottinghamKnight

This action may trigger a fraud check but by no means inevitable. I have done exactly this on a new RBS account in the past few days without problem.

PRAISETHESUN

It's a pretty standard thing to freeze an account if money is transferred in/out quickly as this can possible be an indication of money laundering or that you are being scammed - all banks do this, not just HSBC. The banks have to be seen to be stopping this as in the long run the inconvenience of having your account blocked is far outweighed by the inconvenience of having to chase fraudulent payments and possibly lose money. In my experience this usually only happens when paying into a new account for the first time - if you do what they ask then it will solve your problems and shouldn't happen again as you now have a history of doing this.

I had this happen to me very recently with Lloyds as well - a quick branch visit sorted it, but I agree that it's far from ideal. But I'd much rather they freeze my account to protect me than let fraudulent payments go out.

NottinghamKnight

I don't think they are protecting you, primarily themselves as they would be the most probable victim of any fraudulent transaction. that's the reason most banks now make you go through multiple screens to say you are transferring your funds willingly and know what you are doing to protect themselves, not the customer. 

billn

Thanks for the replies, I agree the banks have a duty of care to prevent fraud but I have done the same thing on at least three occasions in the past few weeks with other banks without a problem. I haven't got a problem with the bank taking the precautions that they did but I answered all the questions they asked and they still wanted to freeze the money until I had gone into a branch or wait for a letter and then ring.

Ed-1

billn said:

Thanks for the replies, I agree the banks have a duty of care to prevent fraud but I have done the same thing on at least three occasions in the past few weeks with other banks without a problem. I haven't got a problem with the bank taking the precautions that they did but I answered all the questions they asked and they still wanted to freeze the money until I had gone into a branch or wait for a letter and then ring.

But were those other banks new accounts?

billn

Ed-1 said:

But were those other banks new accounts?

Yes, I've been playing the incentive game.

TheMightySwordfish

I had this problem with moving money to a new account from a new account. It's a red flag for money laundering and I had to explain what I was doing and where the money came from. It's annoying but understandable. Once I had it all cleared I've not had issues moving money in or out since.