HSBC alternatives.

Harleysaver

Hello. Not a regular poster on these boards so please forgive me if I make any mistakes in etiquette. 

I have been with HSBC and Midland bank for over 40 years. I have stayed for convenience more than any form of loyalty. I currently have an advance account. I use this account for my day to day banking in which my salary gets paid into. 

I have a busy job (as does everyone) that has me travelling a lot. I find the service on the advance side doesn’t meet my requirements when I need quick dealings with the bank, and have to sit on hold getting passed from department to department for simple queries (that I can’t use the app for)

I have enquired about the premier account to get more of a dedicated banking team but the support line says no. My salary way exceeds the threshold needed but I refuse to take out another product that I don’t need, or to put my savings into one of their products which offer worse rates.  Has anyone ever had experience of getting the premier account based on salary but not having another account and if so, how did you do it. 

Secondly as posted above if I switch day to Barclays premier.. have people found a better service elsewhere away from HSBC?

Mark_d

HSBC Premier is not worth it.  If you think the entry requirements are a bit of a con, you will start getting annoyed with the relationship manager aka. salesman.  Personally I find that Starling is excellent for my needs - the usual stuff plus paying in cash/cheques, accepting international payments.  If you find your HSBC branch convenient for cash dealing or you need mortgage facilities, then first direct might be a good option for you

PloughmansLunch

HSBC Premier service is better than Barclays Prem. Phones are answered quicker than lower tier accounts but still not particularly quick. Upgrading an HSBC account is a pain and involved an hour long phonecall (mainly reading T&Cs aloud to you), followed by a few hard searches for good measure. If you meet the criteria then the easiest way is just to apply for it on the HSBC website as a new product, and eventually your customer profiles should be merged and show as Premier. You can keep both current accounts or bin the newer one to keep the account age of your existing current account. I haven't been contacted by them in a year or so for any attempts at cross-selling. You also get free (and actually quite decent) global travel insurance until age 70. Natwest/RBS Premier CS are by far the fastest on the draw to pick up the phone in my experience.

SiliconChip

What is it that you need to contact your bank about? I have various accounts with 19 different banks at the moment and it's very, very rare that I need to contact any of them about anything. Quite a few I have never had to contact since opening the account. I think you'll find that most of the regular posters on this board will be the same, and if you're different then an explanation of the purpose for your bank contact might help to guide you to the most appropriate new bank.

wmb194

First Direct?

Harleysaver

SiliconChip said:

What is it that you need to contact your bank about? I have various accounts with 19 different banks at the moment and it's very, very rare that I need to contact any of them about anything. Quite a few I have never had to contact since opening the account. I think you'll find that most of the regular posters on this board will be the same, and if you're different then an explanation of the purpose for your bank contact might help to guide you to the most appropriate new bank.

So in the last month, I have had to contact them about a cashback payment for a loan that was incorrectly not paid. I also had to contact them about a payment that was taken ithree times instead of one. I had to speak to them numerous times about the loan to get to the answer I wanted. The last call took over an hour after being pushed from person to person and being hon hold for a substantial amount of time. 

Harleysaver

Thanks for all the suggestions and I think I will try First Direct. 

penners324

Starling your best bet. Everything can done in app. 

Nasqueron

Harleysaver said:

Thanks for all the suggestions and I think I will try First Direct. 

I think the winky emoji is because FD are part of HSBC though they are generally rated better for responses etc

boingy

I don't need to phone a bank very often (probably like most people on here) but when I have done so First Direct has definitely been the one that stood out in terms of answering the phone fairly promptly and, more to the point, being able to sort out the problem without passing me around various other people. 

wmb194

Nasqueron said:

Harleysaver said:

Thanks for all the suggestions and I think I will try First Direct. 

I think the winky emoji is because FD are part of HSBC though they are generally rated better for responses etc

Correct, but it does appear to have separate call centres and I know people who swear by them.