Hsbc

PROLIANT

I applied for a new bank account with HSBC, and to my surprise they have not searched Experian or Equifax, they have used Call Credit where I have quite a good score with, I don’t know if I have been accepted yet but it looks promising. Just thought it would be a useful piece of information to anybody thinking of shopping around.

ShelfStacker_3

Hum, they searched Experian for me... I know because I saw the guy paging through my credit report in front of me

Branch staff appear to be able to override central/CRA decisions though, which is nice.

PROLIANT

I thought only underwriters were aloud to look at your file? So when he sighs and looks over the top his specs you have an idea of what he is thinking!

ShelfStacker_3

PROLIANT wrote: »

I thought only underwriters were aloud to look at your file? So when he sighs and looks over the top his specs you have an idea of what he is thinking!

Well, like I say, it appears branch people can override central decisions, thus making them underwriters... in a weird way.

skyrider007

I went to HSBC today and asked for an extension to my overdraft limit (£750 to £1000) and the lady who looked after me had to make a phone call to the headquarters and obtain the decision. Before she placed the phone call to the HQ she informed me that I will be subjected to credit search etc. As far as I can remember her conversation with some guy at the HQ, it seems that she just need to punch in an approval code which she's got over the phone after being on hold for five minutes (I've been approved for an O/D limit increase in this case) into her computer at the branch. Ten seconds later she showed me the screen and my account details has been updated with the new O/D limit. I did not get any printed confirmation as she told me that such document will be posted to me in a couple of days.

It seems to me that the staff in HSBC branch have no access to your credit file and no power to make credit decision. Still, I've got what I wanted : )

P.S. waiting time on a Monday afternoon at the Loughborough branch was well over 30 minutes! Staff were friendly though.

Lyncroft

Will you get charged £25 for that?

Moneybags55

Lyncroft wrote: »

Will you get charged £25 for that?

I've been looking at the terms and conditions on the current account page and as far as I can tell it is only if you make more than one overdraft request within 6 months.

skyrider007

Lyncroft wrote: »

Will you get charged £25 for that?

No fees whatsoever on my account as it's a student account. Thing will change when I graduate though!