HSBC Shock Horror

Archive: Yes

Simple

You have a premier account, designed for high worth individuals which is free, if you have:

• a mortgage of £200,000 or more with HSBC Bank, or * savings or investments of at least £50,000 with HSBC Bank, or * annual income of £75,000 or over and a mortgage of £100,000 or over with HSBC Bank.

Alternatively, you can have Premier for £19.95 per month as long as you have an annual income of £75,000 or over.

You appear to have asperations beyond your means, simply ask them to convert your account down to a Bank Account Plus which may meet your life style better. If you plead poverty well enough you might well get them to forgo the previous fee's you have run up.

X-No-Archive: yes In message , Peter King writes

Many thanks for such a detailed reply, Peter. HSBC were the ones keen to push me into their wretched Premier system, extolling all the advantages!

This is the first time I've seen this charge and they haven't levied it yet.

The account is one of several Premier accounts I have with HSBC. Recently I've been paying most of my residual fee and royalty cheques into an ING Direct account because HSBC rates were derisory. I've also transferred several large sums from my HSBC Premier Saver Account to ING, too. I don't suppose HSBC were happy with funds haemorrhaging to their competitors! All they have left of my loot now is around 30K.

The advantages of Premier accounts are marginal, so I'll be happy to downgrade them and close the Premier Saver Accounts at the same time, too by shifting the dosh elsewhere. My synchronised wife/husband Mastercard credit cards are linked to the HSBC as well, so I might as well close them, too. I always pay them off in full each month (although I spend a fair amount) so I daresay HSBC will be glad to see the back of me!

Initially I was reluctant to shove all eggs in the ING Direct basket because I thought their 'no strings' terms at launch merely marked the beginning of a short honeymoon period. But, after a year, that doesn't seem to be the case.

JF went

We once had a similar account with Cater Allan (?). They got taken over by Halifax who immediately tried a similar trick. The idea is to concentrate on the rich, who they think they can screw for other fancy products, and push mere mortals out the door. But with your other accounts going too, they might regret it, hopefully.

Putrid poetry, dismal doggerel, extrava-stanzas...

why?

Absolutely! We only wanted an account to pay bills from but were pushed onto having a premier account.

Suspect its down to the account manager's discretion.

At 11:55:21 on 13/10/2005, Salazar delighted uk.finance by announcing:

Why not?

The product has been refreshed, with some new and enhanced benefits (should have got a square pale blue booklet in July/August), and at the same time the qualification criteria (new version of which has already been posted above) were reviewed and amended.

You should have had a letter at the end of August telling you about the changes and giving you the options. I know you've already said about

30k is still with them, just to point out, maybe to others aswell, if youve got a joint premier account then balances held in either parties name or in joint names all count towards the qualification (esp ISAs as can only be held in sole names, but the computer system isnt always able to recognise this- Relationship Manager is the one to speak to).

Bitstring , from the wonderful person Alex said

because:

a) it doesn't work b) if it did work, it would prevent other people with the same problem from benefiting, which is pretty anti-social.

Thanks! I'll dig through the filing tomorrow. It'll give me the push to ring up and change to a normal account - unless they charge for them now too! :)

At 20:27:26 on 13/10/2005, GSV Three Minds in a Can delighted uk.finance by announcing:

It does.

What problem?

Perhaps, but why.

Why could someone possibly want a perfectly normal newsgroup posting not archived?

The problem that the OP posted about.

tim

Bitstring , from the wonderful person Alex said

No it doesn't - go look at the thread on Google, and observe that all the relevant bits of the 'X No Archive' message is archived anyway, since it was quoted downthread. And if you think that the NSA, FBI, and GCHQ archives (to name but three) honour 'X-No-Archive' you are living in cloud cuckoo land.

The one that started this thread.

Is there some advantage to the customer in opneing one of these "free" accounts that are hedged with so many restrictions? The Nationwide building society (to mention one institution of many, no doubt) offer free banking to almost anyone. No annual fees, no requirement to earn over a certain amount, no mortgage requirements, nothing at all out of the ordinary (apart from positive benefits like no-fee currency exchange at money market rates on credit and debit cards).

So what's the attraction of expensive "premier" style accounts? Is it just that they make the customer feel good while actually being taken for a mug?

Mike.

Well it was free and they have exclusive coffee lounges at various locations which apparently are good for watching the tennis at. ;-/

And they get the chance to upsell/harrass you as part of their special service.

Yes, I received my pack in June - letter stated that they would provide the next year for free and review it on an annual basis. As this presumably means that they will drop me like a hot brick (or start charging me like a tepid mug) at some point in the future, I'll probably be moving my account and savings to ING or Cahoot. I've been with Midland/HSBC over 30 years with no problems but I'm not prepared to pay to be loyal...

X-No-Archive: yes In message , DaveJ writes

I've found out the root of the cause. Three years ago HSBC Investment decided to increase the management fees of SIPP portfolios below GBP500K. The hike was a swingeing ten-fold increase from the GBP500 pa agreed with James Capel, as HSBC used to be known. In other words, HSBC's message was: "If we're holding less than half a million of your dosh, you can Foxtrot Oscar." So I Foxtrot Oscared the SIPP to Rathbones. I didn't particularly want to do it because SIPP managers are thin on the ground (although this is likely to change).

The transfer meant that my rosie-looking investment holdings with HSBC went to zilt. HSBC change of heart wasn't due to, as Peter King suggested, my living beyond my means. :)

Now, with large sums being transferred from my HSBS Premier Saver account to ING Direct and always paying my credit card bill in full each month, HSBC appear to have decided that I'm a lousy customer.

I've not had a final response from my local branch's manager but it looks like I'm going to have to end all my links with them. Which is a pity because, like you, I've been with them thirty years.

X-No-Archive: yes In message , mogga writes of HSBC Premier Accounts:

Well, in anticipation of ending my Mastercard credit card account with HSBC, I thought I'd try applying on-line with Morgan-Stanley. After much tedious answering questions, around page 3 I was asked who my employers were. 'Self-employed' was one of the options their website provided so I selected it. Convinced I was making great progress (they thoughtfully provide a progress bar at the top of the screen) I clicked on 'proceed to next page' and was presented with a question: 'Please give name and address of employers'. Further progress was not allowed without that answer to I gave up and looked elsewhere.

I suppose I could write to Morgan-Stanley and tell them of the bug in their on-line application routine, but why should I bother? At nearly 70 I must be one of the many elderly people whom the 'Daily Mail' say are confused and bewildered by the internet and on-line banking.

You should write to them. Worry them by doing it with paper and envelope! :)

X-No-Archive: yes In message , mogga writes

I usually write letters when dealing with banking matters anyway.

Oddly enough the NatWest have exactly the same bug in their on-line credit card application website. Selecting 'Self-employed' does not disable the 'name and address of your employer' questions. And if you don't provide an answer, you're buggered.

Maybe these banks don't like the self-employed?