HSBC switch 13 November 2022 at 8:36PM in Budgeting & bank accounts 15 replies 839 views

peteques

Hi all - just tried to switch accounts to HSBC - got the message "We’re sorry, we’re unable to offer you an HSBC Advance Account at the moment." Has this happened to anyone else? My credit rating is good and answers to all questions were fine. Any ideas anyone? Thanks

Zuzi

I had that last year (trying again now, waiting for them to complete their "checks").

I think they are quite fussy, it didn't bother me when I was refused. I know my credit history is good (maybe too good, I won't be borrowing money and paying them any interest) so it must be their own algorithms and proprietary risk assessment that I failed, and there is little I can do about that...

I'm curious what happens this year, quite fancy the switching bonus. Funny thing is, I did have an Advanced account with them years ago, on a much lower salary.

GlasgowExpat2

Zuzi said:

I had that last year (trying again now, waiting for them to complete their "checks").

I think they are quite fussy, it didn't bother me when I was refused. I know my credit history is good (maybe too good, I won't be borrowing money and paying them any interest) so it must be their own algorithms and proprietary risk assessment that I failed, and there is little I can do about that...

I'm curious what happens this year, quite fancy the switching bonus. Funny thing is, I did have an Advanced account with them years ago, on a much lower salary.

I’ve had a text saying my welcome letter etc will be sent out in 7-10 days but no emails 🤔. Were you asked to upload any identity documents ?

eskbanker

peteques said:

Hi all - just tried to switch accounts to HSBC - got the message "We’re sorry, we’re unable to offer you an HSBC Advance Account at the moment." Has this happened to anyone else? My credit rating is good and answers to all questions were fine. Any ideas anyone? Thanks

Yes, it's happened to lots of people - if you search through past threads about the HSBC Advance account, you'll see that they've always had a reputation for being picky about who to accept.

At the risk of being pedantic, your thread title about a switch is a bit misleading, as your issue is not being accepted for the account in the first place, so you didn't even get as far as initiating the (separate) switching process....

Zuzi

@GlasgowExpat2 I wasn't asked for any extra documents, but I've had texts telling me it will be up to 10 days for their review and checks.

To be honest, I'm half expecting to be refused again. I don't know why (to bring this back to the OP's question) but they do seem very picky and there is no way of telling whether they consider me more worthy of this account than last year, so I will see what happens.

GlasgowExpat2

@Zuzi so the text doesn’t mean I’ve been accepted then?  They’ve advised on Twitter I should hear within 48 hours how to complete the account opening 🤞🏻

Zuzi

@GlasgowExpat2 We may not have had the same texts, mine only say they'll be in touch soon because they're reviewing the application, that they are busy, don't contact us, we'll contact you  so I will just wait until they get in touch.
Don't remember how I was refused last time around, it may have been an instant mesage on screen as the OP seems to have had, this time there's been no message so far about being accepted or denied. I have an account lined up to switch if they accept me and I will happily take the switching bonus, but other than that I don't really care much either way.

creditmanessex

Mine did the hard credit search and nothing other than texts to date 

Just_A_Dad

I applied Wednesday - got a text to say will take 10 days for the checks.
That was 6 days ago.
I received yesterday a TEXT update saying they are very busy and applications are taking longer than usual and they will be in touch soon..

so i guess nothing to worry about yet... just demand.

GlasgowExpat2

I applied on Sunday and received an email yesterday that my account had been set up

Zuzi

Anyone else had any luck since? I also applied on Wed last week, so it's been more than a week. I suppose if they don't contact me for another week I should look at another switching bonus...