HSBC Advance Account

Consecca

So we've all heard about the £205 free cash you can get with opening one of these accounts, but it seems to be a lot of hoop-jumping to go through to get that into your desired bank account.

Has anyone on here jumped through all those hoops, and if so, was the effort low enough to warrant the reward?

NorwichMan

To me it really doesn't seem much effort. I put in an application on the train home from work yesterday, it took about 5 minutes on my phone. If I'm accepted then it won't be hard to make a few transactions, and opening the global money account similarly shouldn't be hard and sounds like a potentially useful account to have.

What is maybe harder is getting accepted for an advance account, HSBC seem to be relatively selective about who they give these accounts to, compared to similar accounts from most other banks.

eskbanker

Consecca said:

So we've all heard about the £205 free cash you can get with opening one of these accounts, but it seems to be a lot of hoop-jumping to go through to get that into your desired bank account.

Has anyone on here jumped through all those hoops, and if so, was the effort low enough to warrant the reward?

Which hoops are you thinking of?  As above, opening an account isn't a particularly time-consuming or onerous task, and unlike most incentives, there isn't even any need to switch another account....

prettyandfluffy

I think for free money it's worth it, I've applied.  I'm keeping a copy of the summary so I can make sure I do what is required for the payout.  No-one is likely to have been through all the steps yet as it's only just been launched and takes 10 days for the account to be opened.

pridehappy

It seems a little wordy (and thus might come as overwhelming to some) but I couldn’t imagine it being that difficult. It’s more the fact that the account doesn’t offer much at all over other bank’s current accounts, so I’m not so sure why HSBC are so selective.

prettyandfluffy

pridehappy said:

I’m not so sure why HSBC are so selective.

I think they are looking to attract a particular profile of new customer, you either fit that or you don't.  For example if someone is not likely to use a currency account & card, they are probably not going to be profitable in terms of this account.

james_wrightson

I applied last night and got rejected. This is the first ever financial product that I haven't been accepted for. Not particularly impressed that it's left a hard search on my credit file, but that's the risk I guess.

dealyboy

@james_wrightson said:

I applied last night and got rejected. This is the first ever financial product that I haven't been accepted for. Not particularly impressed that it's left a hard search on my credit file, but that's the risk I guess.

Sorry to read that James, I understand.

I don't know why HSBC are disappointing so many. Do they think there is some cachet in having a current account with them? As in the song ... 'Is he any more than a pretty face?' ... I don't think so! *

* David Essex - Gonna make you a Star

Consecca

What I'm also concerned about is applying while I'm unemployed, am I likely to be rejected because of my employment status?

NorwichMan

I don't think anyone will be able to definitively answer that, you won't know unless you apply and find out, as everyone has unique circumstances that may be evaluated differently by the bank. Having said that, given how selective HSBC appear to be, and in the absence of any other info, I would imagine your chances of acceptance are low.

northAthenian

So i applied Tuesday night, it took minutes, came up saying i'd been accepted...but i still havent received any email ( this made me a tad nervy til i read @prettyandfluffy 's post aove- timely reminder it takes 10 dsys, do thanks!!) id assumed there would be some kind of automated email acknowledgement, but none so far.Ill await the posted confirmation/ acc details