HSBC Just Isn’t Worth It Anymore

by Sean

Not exactly breaking any news to those of you following the personal finance blog world, but HSBC has out of the blue decided to lop off a quarter percent on their HSBC Direct savings accounts. Mind you, the email I just received from them didn’t mention that fact, just that their summer high-rate promotion had come to an end (hmmm, I don’t recall a notice that their high-rate promotion had begun), but that the rate is still .2% above the rate they were offering before the promotion.

Oh, and that they were now offering the incredible rate of 3.75% on a CD… :roll:

Which just reminded me that I want out of HSBC-land. I only log into the account once or twice a month, either to deposit my monthly non-monthly bills money (ala something like 1/12th of our property taxes or 1/6th of our car insurance payment) or, if when it becomes time to pay one of those irregular bills, to withdraw what was set aside. And each and every time, I’m annoyed by their login process. On two occasions now, I’ve had to waste my time calling them up and plead to let me back into my account after screwing up the login a few times in a row.

If I truly value my time, just one call to restore my account after a login foul up will easily kills a few years in extra interest beyond what I can get elsewhere. It’s just not worth it to trade that five bucks or so a year extra my irregular bill fund earns at HSBC with the simplicity that is ING Direct (where I keep my side business money partitioned away from our ‘regular’ money).

So I just opened another sub account at ING, and in a few days, I can remove one more bank from my Financial Institutions I Have Accounts With list.

  • http://blog.jacquelinepittenger.com Jacqui

    I bailed on HSBC this week, too. I really don’t see the appeal of ING (other than the sub-accounts, that is pretty nifty). So all my money is now at Century Bank Direct. I’m even closing my local checking account in favor of their awesome interest checking. You should check them out.

  • http://www.irregularpayments.com Sean

    Never heard of Century Bank Direct, though pulling up their site, they do appear to have decent rates at least. But, a biggie for me, no bank-to-bank transfers. An online bank without ACH is a little odd. Think I’ll have to pass on them for now.

  • http://www.varologic.com/blog/ harry

    Financial world is full of interesting stories the recent one being Lehman Brothers. Your’s too is interesting one.

    harrys last blog post..Semicircle Headphones Concept – Noise-friendly

  • http://www.cambiadecasa.com hipoteca puente

    It’s incredible what’s happening with the American banking. The rest of the world is living through the consequences of this crisis

  • http://frugalcents.wordpress.com Monica

    Enough emphasis can’t be made about the $700bn bail-out. I was reading how Bush lobbies the congress to pass the bill and this has dis-stabilized the US financial market, and for HSBC to lop off a quarter percent on their HSBC Direct savings accounts must have a reason, lets just wait,watch and see what happens??

    Monicas last blog post:Thou shalt not get into debt

  • http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=1216 Roger Hamilton

    This is interesting. So is the financial and banking world. What is going to happen next? With all the recent things that is happening, I really wonder.

    Roger Hamilton´s last post:Thinking of Spamming an Ecademy Club? I suggest you read this first … [Amanda Hamilton]

  • http://www.mywealthcreationstrategy.com/roger-hamilton.html Roger Hamiltone

    This is an interesting one. Thanks for the information. Yours posts have allowed me to know more about the financial world. Thanks !

  • http://www.findabet.co.uk Martin – UK @ casino, poker, bingo,

    The post is quite interesting. It really helped me to decide finally that I should remain away from HSBC. he he

  • http://www.paystolivegreen.com pays to live green

    I am getting ready to get out of HSBC. They don’t have the highest interest rate and their customer service sucks. I had major problems with them and I don’t know why I am still with them.

    pays to live green´s last post:Maryland Environmental News: October 2008

  • http://www.einfostream.com/financial.htm E info@Bad credit loan services

    I have my account at citi bank. For me, they are quite good. I have another account at the standard chartered, but lately i m not happy with their rates. I have to cacel that maybe.

  • http://www.moneymanager.com/coverdell-education-savings-accounts Money Manager

    I have an account in HSBC and so far I’m not experiencing any problem.. they are doing their job and services well done, I just hope I will not in the future..

  • http://www.moneymanager.com/ Money Manager

    I have an account in HSBC and so far I’m not experiencing any problem.. they are doing their job and services well done, I just hope I will not experience any problem in the future..

  • http://educationconsolidationloan.weebly.com/ consolidsation loan

    City Group now the next bank in trouble.

  • http://www.printablepromotions.com/docs/green/green.html Eco Friendly Products

    All these financial banks are failing. I didn’t think Citigroup would be on a the verge. I have accounts in Citibank and Citifinancial. I hope everything will be ok. It’s the only bank I like and will use.

  • http://highyield-investments-and-savings.blogspot.com/ Ken@High yield cd

    The interest rate at HSBC is getting to low to make it worth my time. I remember the 5% rate and look back at the good old days of being paid that much. Every time i get a email from HSBC they lowered rates and i make less.

    Ken´s last post:Hsbc online banking.

  • http://www.deltadebtmanagement.com latif@debt management

    I am currently having with citibank and was planning to move with HSBC. Since i thought it was Chinese bank and may implement low rates as per Chinese govt did.

  • http://cheapdsl.tblog.com/ Tom@ Cheap dsl.

    I still use hsbc for online banking. The others ones do pay a little more but i have no branches in my area. Right now the inetrest on most internet banks is not paying much but they are paying more than US bonds.

    Tom´s last post:los angeles cheap dsl.

  • http://www.credit.card.debt.services.8594022402.com Ray finnert

    HSBC was not really that great to begin with. And now, from what you have said, they are even offering less. Do we really need an incentive to say ‘bye-bye’ to this bank in particular? There are much better banks out there and where HSBC is concerned, any of them should be better.

  • http://vcbanking.com Brian@High Interest Checking Accounts

    I really like ING. They seem to have an eye out for customer satisfaction.

    Brian´s last post:What to Look For in a High Interest Checking Account

  • http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=53158 Autoseller Network

    Awesome article! I have gradually become fan of your article and would like to suggest putting some new updates to make it more effective.

  • http://www.bank-companion.com jinnie@mobile banking credit union

    All the big banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America are a rip off. Extremely high fee’s for anything they car charge you for. The advantage is that these banks are on every corner and you know they won’t be folding.

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