Difficulty with getting hsbc credit card

l.c.elliott

I dont know if anyone else has experienced difficulties in dealing with hsbc when trying to open a credit card - ive never had these issues with any other bank before.

I applied for a balance transfer credit card on 19/11/25. On friday 21/11/25 I got a text message to say my application had been accepted and my credit agreement would be emailed to me within 48 hrs. Sunday PM, no credit agreement had arrived so I called Monday AM, they told me that with it being the weekend, id have to leave it an extra 2 days so I should receive it by COB 25/11/25. Nothing arrived by then so I called them in the evening of 25th. They told me that there was a discrepancy on my file cos id had an account with hsbc in the past and cos id applied for this card with my middle name (autocorrect when I applied for the credit card 🙈), it had created 2 folders for me....so they needed me to go into branch to show my ID. Why couldn't they have told me this though via phone call or email, why did I have to call and chase this for them to inform me?? 

So 26/11/25 I went to branch, showed my ID and the guy sent it to customer services. I asked if he could help sort my credit agreement there and then but he said they dont do it in branch and that they will email me 'at some point'. Of course by this point I dont trust them at all that ill receive any communication from them seeing as theyve been awful so far about contacting me, so I call them to the afternoon on 26th. They tell me I may need to wait well over a week to get any form of email!!!! Of course im frustrated by this point as its been a week since I applied and I went in with my id to sort the discrepancy so why is there still an issue?! Apparently it had gone off to the underwriters to sort but I couldn't get any further information about why its taking so long and what needs sorting.

On 27/11 at 3pm I called them as I wanted some kind of confirmation from them that they were definitely gonna email me at some point, I was upset on the phone and explained what had happened. The guy put me on hold and when he came back, he said he had escalated it and that an email had been sent to my inbox which would contain my terms and conditions. I told him it hadn't arrived, he said to allow 24hrs for it to arrive and that I could call back 28/11 3pm if it hadn't arrived.

Guess what, 3pm 28/11 there was STILL no email! I called them and they said that actually, the guy I spoke to the day before had misinformed me - i should in fact wait 24 WORKING hours, and actually, the email that should be sent to me with the terms and conditions was still in pending status so it hadn't been sent to me yet!!!! So basically I need to wait until monday 1st december 3pm at the absolute latest.

Of course I actually dont trust them AT ALL and I feel theyre stringing me along. Im incredibly doubtful that I will receive an email abd this whole thing will judt keep going round and round in circles. I have a balance that I need to shift from another credit card which is building up interest so im actually wondering if I should just cancel this credit card application and apply elsewhere as I dont trust hsbc at all with how ive been treated 😢

Emmia

So open account with another provider. HSBC are known for being picky. You initially submitted your application with the wrong name details, and presumably had the initial search done on that, which is probably part of the problem.

marcia_

 I have an advance account with HSBC and a M&S card and they still denied me 

l.c.elliott

Emmia said:

So open account with another provider. HSBC are known for being picky. You initially submitted your application with the wrong name details, and presumably had the initial search done on that, which is probably part of the problem.

They've since told me though that everything has been accepted since I brought in my ID and they are just doing final checks?

l.c.elliott

marcia_ said:

 I have an advance account with HSBC and a M&S card and they still denied me 

Do you mean denied you a credit card? Did you initially get 'application approved' and they denied you after that, or did you not even get the application approved?

marcia_

l.c.elliott said:

marcia_ said:

 I have an advance account with HSBC and a M&S card and they still denied me 

Do you mean denied you a credit card? Did you initially get 'application approved' and they denied you after that, or did you not even get the application approved?

 Yes approved then denied for unknown reasons 

Emmia

l.c.elliott said:

Emmia said:

So open account with another provider. HSBC are known for being picky. You initially submitted your application with the wrong name details, and presumably had the initial search done on that, which is probably part of the problem.

They've since told me though that everything has been accepted since I brought in my ID and they are just doing final checks?

Final checks can still mean you'll be denied, if those checks throw up something they don't like.

vacheron

I usually hold between five and eight 0% cards at any one time so am applying regularly as the promotion rates expire. I've always found that HSBC have been one of the pickier cards and are the most likely to want you to go into branch with some bit of silly scrap of paper to prove something that matters not one bit to literally every other card provided.

...however, just last night I was browsing on a 0% card comparison site to see if any new offers were available, and under the slew of cards I already have (Natwest / Virgin / M&S, Halifax)..... the providers that hate me (Barclays... who, like @marcia_ above, I am a Barclays premier customer but they seem to think that I am a complete delinquent when it comes to credit cards! ).. and the credit builder cards, There was a listing for HSBC but with no pre-approval listed. 

On a punt, I applied directly with them last night and got accepted straight away with a very decent credit limit, and once I had completed the application (including adding a number of cards I wanted to balance transfer from), it came up immediately as fully accepted and "your card is being posted out to you" which came as a huge surprise as it was the exact opposite of my usual experience with them. 

My only assumption is that this may be because I have had both current accounts and credit cards with them before, but this has also been the case in the past and they have still been quite paranoid?