I signed up for the HSBC switch in mid-december using a throwaway basic Lloyds account. All seemed to be going well except for the card/paperwork delayed in the post, but I have an existing HSBC mortgage and the new account was added automatically to the app. I transferred in £1600 to meet the minimum requirements, set up the online saver too and left it for a few hours then sent most of the funds back to another account of mine. The money took quite a few hours to show up which I thought was weird compared with pretty much any other modern account, but thought nothing of it.
On the first proper day of post after christmas I had two HSBC letters (each with different contact numbers) saying to phone them urgently. I checked the app first and my account(s) are marked as digital access suspended. I have phoned them up twice now and have twice failed the 20mins+ of arcane security questions and am told I need to make the 40 mile+ round trip to my nearest 'full service' branch with a whole raft of documents to prove my identity.
Is this sort of service standard common with HSBC or am I just unlucky? At this rate I'm not hopeful I'll even get the bonus, but if I do I'll feel that I've earned it.
I've had similar with Lloyds. And First Direct. Banks can see unusual behaviour such as yours as gaming the system / taking the pxss, and deliberately misflag it as possible fraud to give you the runaround.
If you've complied with the T&C you'll get the money eventually but may be wise to submit a formal complaint, in which case they may add cash to the eventual settlement rather than risk an additional £700 payment to the Regulator in event you go that route. You may well have to go to branch with passport etc but why not submit a pre-prepared written complaint to the manager in person at the same time, detailing your wasted time and costs.
Having learnt from my experiences, when I switch I now use the debit card a bit until I get the reward and take money out slowly and by disparate means including PayPal friends and family payment, ATM withdrawal, standing orders etc.
HSBC promise their Advance Bank Account offers "Easy everyday banking" and that "Your switch (will be) completed in just 7 working days from start to finish."
This seems erroneous if not mendacious because I'm not the only one to have had a catalogue of problems (glad I'm switching a spare account), including late delivery of card and its PIN... and most importantly non-receipt of the Telephone Security Number which is required to access online, app or telephone banking.
You seem to be mixing up the switch time of 7 days with the time for new account opening. The switch will take 7 days from when it starts. But it cannot possibly start (and you wouldn't want it to) until the new account is up and running. You must have the account open first. And then you can start the switch.
Their words not mine. All I know is account applied for December 8, opened 9th with switch on 22nd but switch subsequently rescheduled to 30th. Now they've got my money that switched in from old account but I can't do much with it as still no telephone banking security number and they won't give me one ("ahem") over the phone. Instead, I've just received a telephone banking security number application form through the post inviting me to complete and post back at least there's a SAE). That took over two weeks to arrive so postage back, turnaround in the office and return will take Gxd knows how long! 🤣😭
The switch date may have changed but it still completes in the 7 days from Day 1. Which is, I assume, what happened, the switch began 7 days before the 30th.
Another time perhaps set a switch date as far ahead as possible within the offer terms to try and ensure all the banking access was sorted out beforehand. For this offer the terms were (iirc) that the switch should start within 30 days of account opening, so in principle you could have had 4 weeks to get the account open with all the details, debit card, logins etc sorted accessible as you could have set the switch to start on day 30. Completing 7 days after that.
HSBC promise their Advance Bank Account offers "Easy everyday banking" and that "Your switch (will be) completed in just 7 working days from start to finish."
This seems erroneous if not mendacious because I'm not the only one to have had a catalogue of problems (glad I'm switching a spare account), including late delivery of card and its PIN... and most importantly non-receipt of the Telephone Security Number which is required to access online, app or telephone banking.
You seem to be mixing up the switch time of 7 days with the time for new account opening. The switch will take 7 days from when it starts. But it cannot possibly start (and you wouldn't want it to) until the new account is up and running. You must have the account open first. And then you can start the switch.
Their words not mine. All I know is account applied for December 8, opened 9th with switch on 22nd but switch subsequently rescheduled to 30th. Now they've got my money that switched in from old account but I can't do much with it as still no telephone banking security number and they won't give me one ("ahem") over the phone. Instead, I've just received a telephone banking security number application form through the post inviting me to complete and post back at least there's a SAE). That took over two weeks to arrive so postage back, turnaround in the office and return will take Gxd knows how long! 🤣😭
The switch date may have changed but it still completes in the 7 days from Day 1. Which is, I assume, what happened, the switch began 7 days before the 30th.
Another time perhaps set a switch date as far ahead as possible within the offer terms to try and ensure all the banking access was sorted out beforehand. For this offer the terms were (iirc) that the switch should start within 30 days of account opening, so in principle you could have had 4 weeks to get the account open with all the details, debit card, logins etc sorted accessible as you could have set the switch to start on day 30. Completing 7 days after that.
Thanks. But. Given that the reward offer is provisional on switch commencing within 30 days, asking HSBC for switch on day 30 might be problematic as it is clear that they are not averse to putting switch dates back. And I am not the only one whose full banking access has taken / will take over a month to obtain, contrary to HSBC promises!
I would leave it in for a few days and stick through a few transactions on the card before taking it out again.
See the above poster who has had issues when they did just that - recycled the cash in and out.
It's not the spirit for which they have intended to have the offer, and also just sending it to another account so soon after it has landed in, that can very well be a sign of questionable activity to the bank's computers.
I would leave it in for a few days and stick through a few transactions on the card before taking it out again.
See the above poster who has had issues when they did just that - recycled the cash in and out.
It's not the spirit for which they have intended to have the offer, and also just sending it to another account so soon after it has landed in, that can very well be a sign of questionable activity to the bank's computers.
I've switched over 15 times without ever leaving deposit requirements sitting in accounts overnight. Simulating what you believe is 'genuine' behaviour to appease computer systems is unnecessary; as long as you follow the terms and conditions and pass identity/security checks, there should be no problems.
Banks usually don't care whether their customers could be abusing rewards/offers, unless they suspect fraudulent (i.e. criminal) activity. Some banks (e.g. TSB) choose to incorporate stricter and more onerous terms for extended offers, such as requiring direct debit activity and debit card spending, and they are also free to stipulate deposit and balance conditions as convoluted as they wish to discourage casual exploitation. I think only Chase has made a fuss over customers clearly abusing their roundups feature (back when 5% was a big enough deal for some to consider it).
So to confirm, to qualify the £1500 deposit element just needs to be deposited within 30 days from opening, and then it can be just as quickly withdrawn??
Since waiting since the 20th December 2022 for the account to be opened and endless telephone calls and lots of different reason why the account was still not opened I end up going into an HSBC branch and spoke to advisor who was brilliant. The account was opened straight away and they also offered me a credit card with zero percent on purchases for 20 months. The advisor confirmed I would still qualify for the bonus because the application was made before the offer closed.
Replies
If you've complied with the T&C you'll get the money eventually but may be wise to submit a formal complaint, in which case they may add cash to the eventual settlement rather than risk an additional £700 payment to the Regulator in event you go that route. You may well have to go to branch with passport etc but why not submit a pre-prepared written complaint to the manager in person at the same time, detailing your wasted time and costs.
Having learnt from my experiences, when I switch I now use the debit card a bit until I get the reward and take money out slowly and by disparate means including PayPal friends and family payment, ATM withdrawal, standing orders etc.
Another time perhaps set a switch date as far ahead as possible within the offer terms to try and ensure all the banking access was sorted out beforehand. For this offer the terms were (iirc) that the switch should start within 30 days of account opening, so in principle you could have had 4 weeks to get the account open with all the details, debit card, logins etc sorted accessible as you could have set the switch to start on day 30. Completing 7 days after that.
See the above poster who has had issues when they did just that - recycled the cash in and out.
It's not the spirit for which they have intended to have the offer, and also just sending it to another account so soon after it has landed in, that can very well be a sign of questionable activity to the bank's computers.
Banks usually don't care whether their customers could be abusing rewards/offers, unless they suspect fraudulent (i.e. criminal) activity. Some banks (e.g. TSB) choose to incorporate stricter and more onerous terms for extended offers, such as requiring direct debit activity and debit card spending, and they are also free to stipulate deposit and balance conditions as convoluted as they wish to discourage casual exploitation. I think only Chase has made a fuss over customers clearly abusing their roundups feature (back when 5% was a big enough deal for some to consider it).