Possible switch to HSBC

trickydicky14

My partner has a current account and credit card with Santander, she would like to switch to HSBC for the £175 incentive. Can she switch and still keep her credit card, this would mean the DD that pays off the credit card would also be moved to HSBC. Would this work.

Daliah

Switching offers are for a specific current account only, and must use CASS. All DDs (and SOs) will be switched to the new account, and the old account gets closed.

So yes, your partner can switch a Santander current account to HSBC* and keep her Santander credit card. The account she switches can be her existing account, or one she specifically opens & readies for the purposes of switching.

* subject to having her application for the HSBC Advance accepted. There is evidence that they are particularly picky, so good luck to her

trickydicky14

Daliah said:

Switching offers are for a specific current account only, and must use CASS. All DDs (and SOs) will be switched to the new account, and the old account gets closed.

So yes, your partner can switch a Santander current account to HSBC* and keep her Santander credit card. The account she switches can be her existing account, or one she specifically opens & readies for the purposes of switching.

* subject to having her application for the HSBC Advance accepted. There is evidence that they are particularly picky, so good luck to her

So are you saying she can continue to pay her credit card from her (possible) new account (HSBC) using the DD that was moved over during the switch?

alleycat`

As an FYI:-

I just cancelled my switch to HSBC (It wasn't for the offer but other services they have is you're an account holder - which would be useful down the line).

After 2 full weeks the only contact i had was on the 1st day - which was a request for 3 pay slips - supplied within the hour.

Then a text saying (paraphrased) "Sorry we're busy but we'll get back to you at some point".

That's it.

You can't chat to them online unless you have an account so you're forced to call a generic "not a customer" number.

To be fair the lady i spoke to, after 20 minutes on hold, was excellent but she confirmed the "application" hadn't been moved forward beyond acknowledging the pay slips and proceeded to cancel the application on my behalf.

The point of me applying when i did was to aim the "switch" to fit in a slot where my DD's were already out, give them enough time to get it all settled, sort cards, etc and my pay could be switched with payroll (in effect a 20 day window).

After 14 days of it not moving at all - well that's just ridiculous and gave me no confidence in their ability to deal with quite simple tasks.

The total lack of communication is even worse - and probably explains their 53% rating CSAT scores.

As a customer of any company you can accept certain delays, etc but not ignored / not kept informed.

It also put my existing banks good customer service into perspective too.

Obviously your mileage may / will vary but I'm assuming they're either swamped, are sandbagging due to the number of applications they received or are just a bit crap / antiquated in how they get on with account applications.

Bridlington1

trickydicky14 said:

Daliah said:

Switching offers are for a specific current account only, and must use CASS. All DDs (and SOs) will be switched to the new account, and the old account gets closed.

So yes, your partner can switch a Santander current account to HSBC* and keep her Santander credit card. The account she switches can be her existing account, or one she specifically opens & readies for the purposes of switching.

* subject to having her application for the HSBC Advance accepted. There is evidence that they are particularly picky, so good luck to her

So are you saying she can continue to pay her credit card from her (possible) new account (HSBC) using the DD that was moved over during the switch?

Yes, she can still continue to pay her credit card by DD from the new account, or indeed any current account she might have for that matter.

As an aside and in a similar vein to alleycat's post, I have used over a dozen different banks and building societies in the past year and HSBC were by far the worst in my experience. I opened an account with them last year and it took about a month to open, then it was just one thing after another until I switched out of them in March. Therefore I would recommend getting the £175 incentive, then switching elsewhere for another incentive after they've paid up. This way your partner will end up with not only more money but also a lot less future hassle.

Daliah

Bridlington1 said:

As an aside and in a similar vein to alleycat's post, I have used over a dozen different banks and building societies in the past year and HSBC were by far the worst in my experience. I opened an account with them last year and it took about a month to open, then it was just one thing after another until I switched out of them in March. Therefore I would recommend getting the £175 incentive, then switching elsewhere for another incentive after they've paid up. This way your partner will end up with not only more money but also a lot less future hassle.

I would go one further. I would never switch my main account, unless I am actually forced to do so for some reason. To go after any of the switch bonuses, I would always use a donor account. Where DDs are required, I'd just set them up for some small amount, such as £1, to the lottery or some such, preferably as annual, and then cancel them once my switch incentive has been paid.

In the case of OP's partner, she should be able to set up an Everyday or 123 Lite account. Then add the two DDs, and once they have paid once (takes roughly 10 working days), start the switch to HSBC. That way, she can pocket the switch incentive, has a donor account for the next switch, and has kept her existing banking arrangements totally untouched.

EDIT: just seen elsewhere that the HSBC switch offer closes Monday. In which case, there is no longer any time for setting up a donor account for this offer

PRAISETHESUN

The only reason you would have issues if the terms of the Santander CC require you to maintain a Santander current account for as long as you hold the card - in that instance they could possible close down the card after you switch away. Outside of that, there shouldn't be any issues as discussed above.

binao

PRAISETHESUN said:

The only reason you would have issues if the terms of the Santander CC require you to maintain a Santander current account for as long as you hold the card - in that instance they could possible close down the card after you switch away. Outside of that, there shouldn't be any issues as discussed above.

With two or more Santander Everyday current accounts, where one of them is in effect a donor account with 2 small DDs, the possibility that they would close down the credit card would not arise, as you still have your remaining (main) Everyday current account with your essential DDs. Is this how switching for dosh works?

Would donor £1, as per your post,  DDs always  be acceptable?

Switching,using donor accounts, is starting to become quite appealing.

Any other snags to look out for.

Thanks.

Daliah

binao said:

PRAISETHESUN said:

The only reason you would have issues if the terms of the Santander CC require you to maintain a Santander current account for as long as you hold the card - in that instance they could possible close down the card after you switch away. Outside of that, there shouldn't be any issues as discussed above.

With two or more Santander Everyday current accounts, where one of them is in effect a donor account with 2 small DDs, the possibility that they would close down the credit card would not arise, as you still have your remaining (main) Everyday current account with your essential DDs. Is this how switching for dosh works?

Would donor £1, as per your post,  DDs always  be acceptable?

Switching,using donor accounts, is starting to become quite appealing.

Any other snags to look out for.

Thanks.

Yes and yes.

alleycat`

Just as a follow up - HSBC went ahead and opened the account anyway - got confirmation this morning...

So the lady who I'd previously said was excellent actually doesn't appear to have done anything (based on a brief conversation with another agent this morning).

This puts into context the great advice from Daliah about a "donor" account and it's something I'll be doing in future (after learning a somewhat painful lesson).

Bridlington1

alleycat` said:

Just as a follow up - HSBC went ahead and opened the account anyway - got confirmation this morning...

So the lady who I'd previously said was excellent actually doesn't appear to have done anything (based on a brief conversation with another agent this morning).

This puts into context the great advice from Daliah about a "donor" account and it's something I'll be doing in future (after learning a somewhat painful lesson).

That's HSBC for you. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand's doing most of the time. If the switch is going ahead then if I were you I'd just take the £175 and then switch elsewhere. Once you have your main account with another bank, then as @Daliah suggested start setting up a donor account, preferably another current account with your new bank, to hoover up the switching incentives.