HSBC banking, does what it says on the tin (HSBC)

Member Name: Dinah93

Product:	HSBC
Date:	02/11/09 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, good rates

Disadvantages: Indian call centre is rubbish!

HSBC stands for the Hong-Kong and Shang-Hai Banking Corporation, and due to the international nature of their banking has been widely billed as the healthiest bank both entering and throughout the credit crunch. I have been a customer of HSBC for 11 years now, and while I have opened secondary accounts with other banks, I have always kept my main account here.

HSBC operate the usual online, over the phone, or in branch methods of banking. The one I use most often is their online banking system. This is fairly secure to log on to, and displays all your accounts. The online banking is really easy to use, to transfer money between accounts, or to make payments elsewhere. The balance displayed is the available balance, if I have sent money to another account after 8pm it updates immediately, not the next working day, which simplifies things.

You can also apply for other products, get a mortgage quote, research rates and products and update your details online. I find their mortgage calculator very handy, and has been invluable to help us work out what sort of property to look for.

The telephone banking is equally easy to use. Unfortuantely if you call in the morning you tend to get the indian call centre, but if you call after about 2pm you get a nice scottish sounding one. I don't use the call centre if I can help it, although it offers all the same features as online banking. My only negative experience came from the call centre, when I called to cancel a lost card, and the stop was never put on the card! No new card was sent out, I was without bank account access for two weeks, and if someone had stolen that card I could have been severely out of pocket. When I made a verbal complaint over the phone I was credited £50 as an apology.

My experience of HSBCs branches is very varied. The larger branches tend to be very efficient, friendly, and have a wide variety of features. However the smaller branches can be a nightmare. The one in the town where I work has no counter service, does not open Saturday mornings, and I've waited up to 2 hours to speak to a real person before.

We took out our joint account online (go through quidco for £50 cashback) in order to get the 8% regular savers. This product has now been withdrawn from the market, but HSBC sometimes have little advertised great rates.

Overall I have been very happy with HSBC, and hope to continue to be for a long time to come.

Summary: I've tried Alliance & Leicester, Barclays and Lloyds, and HSBC are head and shoulders above them all