Refused HSBC Advance account for £175 switch purposes

kingwheeler

great extra info thanks everyone. I reapplied tonight and changed the amount of my speculated annual salary higher than before, and didn't get an instant refusal, so waiting for an email too.

armith

Zanderman said:

No consolation for the OP, but this time I was accepted, having never managed to get an HSBC account other than their standard before.  On previous switch offers they've turned me down for the account in question and tried to fob me off with the everyday one.

Oh, that's interesting - I have tried a couple of times over the past few years to get this account and I've been turned down each time. First time was irritating as I actually wanted to open the account and use it as my main account following the demise of Norwich & Peterborough's current account - chose HSBC because I had my mortgage with HSBC. Second time was just for fun (and the small matter of the switch bribe...) but turned down both times. Might give it another go then.

phillw

Zanderman said:
Having just been offered the advance account (as detailed above) and earning a lot less than 26K I think I can safely conclude that relying on that figure for guidance is now, and probably always was, misleading.  Which may be what that old thread concluded as well.  

They may have changed their criteria in the mean time, but I and someone else was rejected at just under the 1750 per month limit but a couple of years later was accepted at just over.

I don't think that just inflating your salary to get the account is a good idea though. They all share details, so you should tell everyone the same amount.

eskbanker

kingwheeler said:

I reapplied tonight and changed the amount of my speculated annual salary higher than before, and didn't get an instant refusal, so waiting for an email too.

phillw said:

I don't think that just inflating your salary to get the account is a good idea though. They all share details, so you should tell everyone the same amount.

Indeed - application data is forwarded to National Hunter, who highlight discrepancies such as inconsistent salary declarations:

https://nhunter.co.uk/about-us/

These rules help determine whether the information contained within the application is accurate, by cross-matching against other applications in order to spot commonalities or anomalies that are potentially indicative of fraud for further investigation.

Alex9384

eskbanker said:

Indeed - application data is forwarded to National Hunter, who highlight discrepancies such as inconsistent salary declarations:

https://nhunter.co.uk/about-us/

These rules help determine whether the information contained within the application is accurate, by cross-matching against other applications in order to spot commonalities or anomalies that are potentially indicative of fraud for further investigation.

I'm wondering if different job titles fall into this category too?
I mean, usually you can't type in your job title, only choose from options that banks show you, but different banks have different options. Therefore, my job title is different from bank to bank (and car insurance firms too).

Alex9384

I was accepted for the Advance account the first time I applied a year ago.

I simply said I can pay in 1750 each month, even though my monthly income is lower than that.

eskbanker

Alex9384 said:

eskbanker said:

Indeed - application data is forwarded to National Hunter, who highlight discrepancies such as inconsistent salary declarations:

https://nhunter.co.uk/about-us/

These rules help determine whether the information contained within the application is accurate, by cross-matching against other applications in order to spot commonalities or anomalies that are potentially indicative of fraud for further investigation.

I'm wondering if different job titles fall into this category too?
I mean, usually you can't type in your job title, only choose from options that banks show you, but different banks have different options. Therefore, my job title is different from bank to bank (and car insurance firms too).

I don't have any inside knowledge about National Hunter's algorithms but would be surprised if different (but broadly similar) job titles triggered anything - as I understand it the main purpose is to identify fraudulent false declarations, such as inflating a salary.

Alex9384 said:

I was accepted for the Advance account the first time I applied a year ago.

I simply said I can pay in 1750 each month, even though my monthly income is lower than that.

The application process requires applicants to state their annual salary if employed and (separately) income from other sources, such as pensions and benefits, before formally declaring that such information is true and accurate, etc, so as long as you're honest about what your income actually is then there shouldn't be any issue....

Zanderman

phillw said:

Zanderman said:
Having just been offered the advance account (as detailed above) and earning a lot less than 26K I think I can safely conclude that relying on that figure for guidance is now, and probably always was, misleading.  Which may be what that old thread concluded as well.  

They may have changed their criteria in the mean time, but I and someone else was rejected at just under the 1750 per month limit but a couple of years later was accepted at just over.

I don't think that just inflating your salary to get the account is a good idea though. They all share details, so you should tell everyone the same amount.

Agree entirely with your last point, the key point I was making was that I hadn't (inflated my salary) but this time was offered the account.

It was kingwheeler in their reply who suggested salary inflation - which is definitely not a good idea!

Alex9384 said:

I was accepted for the Advance account the first time I applied a year ago.

I simply said I can pay in 1750 each month, even though my monthly income is lower than that.

The account no longer has that requirement.

phillw

Zanderman said:
The account no longer has that requirement.

I guess I missed that.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips/2021/12/01/

"Plus HSBC's ditched its hefty £1,750 minimum monthly pay-in to qualify - now you just need £1,500 to go in within 60 days (you can take it out again), which many people's income over two months will easily cover."

So the point is kinda moot now.

phillw

eskbanker said:
I don't have any inside knowledge about National Hunter's algorithms but would be surprised if different (but broadly similar) job titles triggered anything - as I understand it the main purpose is to identify fraudulent false declarations, such as inflating a salary.

You aren't going to get blocked just because you put something different either, otherwise changing jobs or even getting a pay rise would be a problem.

If all the applications have similar job descriptions then it will be fine, but if you are employed and your annual salary is basically random then I would expect a few issues. The easiest way to make sure you always put the same salary, is to check what your actual salary is.

The important thing in all of this is that you can back it up, if you are challenged.