Overview: What You Need to Know about HSBC: An HSBC Review (About HSBC, Controversies, Services Offered, Reviews)
While there are certainly cross-cultural differences anywhere in the world that you may travel, there are always basic goods and services that are offered no matter where you are. One such service that many people need is a third party who can help them manage their money.
Finding a reliable bank is something that is on the mind of anyone who has a steady monthly income and needs a place to store that money. Unfortunately, not all banks are created equal.
Some banks will work well with you and offer their sincere help while other banks exist solely to make money—no matter what it takes.
One global bank that is gaining popularity is HSBC. HSBC stands for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, a massive banking corporation based in London. Although they are a heavy player in the global banking game, many people still don’t know much about what they offer.
The following article will be an overview about HSBC as a company, the services they offer, and an analysis of the HSBC reviews that are online in order to provide a comprehensive HSBC review.
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What Do You Know about HSBC?
Before you decide whether or not HSBC is the right bank for you, it’s important to know a little bit about the origin of the company and what principles HSBC stands for.
Its name is a bit misleading in the sense that the company was neither founded by anyone from Hong Kong or China, nor is it based in either of those places.
This London-based banking corporation was founded in the 1800s by a Briton, Sir Thomas Sutherland, in Hong Kong while the metropolis was still a British colony.
Image Source: Services Offered by HSBC
Since those early days as a colony, HSBC has grown into a massive multinational corporation with more than 6,000 offices in 71 countries, and it is one of the top 50 biggest banks in the entire world.
While there is no question that HSBC has achieved success in global expansion, it is important for customers to know as much as possible about HSBC before depending on them for services, since HSBC is not without controversies.
One of the more recent issues surrounding HSBC is that they have been accused of being too loose in their policies regarding money laundering. They were also sued by families who had fallen victim to Mexican drug cartels, since HSBC was responsible for processing funds for some of those cartels.
HSBC also found themselves embroiled in controversy in the midst of the Arab Spring. They held billions of dollars for a fund that was controlled by former Colonel Muammar Gaddafi before he fell to the revolution.
Even after he fell, HSBC refused to reveal any information about the funds—their official word was that HSBC couldn’t release any information due to customer confidentiality. Because of these controversies, many people have been left wondering what principles HSBC stands for.
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Services Offered by HSBC (HSBC Personal Banking, HSBC Online Savings, HSBC Savings, and HSBC Business Banking)
As a massive multinational banking service, HSBC offers all kinds of services that cater to the needs of almost everyone. If you visit the website, you will find menus that offer everything from borrowing to investing–and everything in between.
Since it would be impossible to cover all of these different options in one article, we are going to cover only some of the most common options: HSBC personal banking, HSBC online savings, HSBC savings, and HSBC business banking. This review of basic services will help you to decide whether or not HSBC is the right bank for you.
HSBC’s goal is to make their HSBC personal banking accounts easy and convenient for customers to use. Their HSBC personal banking accounts are available online 24/7, so customers are able to bank from anywhere in the world.
While some companies may charge a fee for online banking, there is no concern about that with HSBC. They also have a mobile banking app, so you can access your bank account on the go from your phone or tablet whenever you need it.
Image Source: HSBC Review
With their online banking, HSBC claims to offer less expensive options for people who need to transfer their money both domestically and internationally. Customers also have access to 24 months’ worth of banking statements and advice from HSBC consultants.
Another feature of HSBC personal banking is that customers have access to an HSBC online savings account anytime. According to their website, there are three different options for HSBC online savings accounts: HSBC Premier Savings, HSBC Advance Savings, and HSBC Everyday Savings.
Each HSBC savings account has different criteria to be met in order for customers to be able to access the service. For example, to use HSBC Premier Savings, customers need to have a Premier checking account, which requires users to maintain a minimum balance of $100,000. The Everyday Account is more for the average customer who just needs a typical HSBC savings account.
In addition to personal accounts like HSBC online savings, there are also HSBC business banking accounts available for businesses of all types. Whether your company is a start-up still trying to establish a core customer base or is a large corporation looking to bank with a new company, HSBC business banking more than likely has an option for you.
HSBC is currently offering 12 months of free banking for qualifying businesses, and they also offer HSBC business banking for other types of organizations like clubs, charities, and schools.
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HSBC Reviews
Now that you have a better understanding about HSBC and what type of company they are, you are probably left wondering what the HSBC reviews online are saying this company.
There is no better way to get a feel for the business than by reading a legitimate HSBC review from a reputable source. We’ve scoured the Internet for some HSBC reviews, and we will cover them in the next several paragraphs, helping you decide if HSBC is right for you.
By simply searching the Internet for HSBC reviews, users instantly have access to hundreds, if not thousands, of reviews since HSBC has such a massive customer base.
One of the top results from an HSBC review search is from ConsumerAffairs. The 36 reviews on this website are not very promising for HSBC: HSBC has been given one star out of five based on 35 ratings out of 682 reviews.
The most recent HSBC review appears to be well written from someone who took their time to discuss their issues with HSBC. They say the company acts in an unprofessional manner and is fairly incompetent based on the inability to process mortgage paperwork in the correct manner.
Another top result for HSBC reviews is from the website Credio. This hit is a bit misleading, in that a 94% rating shows up underneath the link on the search engine, but when you click on the link, the actual rating based on customer reviews is 1.3 out of 11 customer reviews.
According to an infographic on the page, 64% of the customer complaints are about mortgage, while 10.49% of the complaints are about debt collection. The four bullet points on the main page say this about HSBC:
- Higher fees than competitors
- Higher checking account rates than other banks
- Lower savings account rates than other banks
- Fewer branches per state than most national institutions
The further you look for HSBC reviews, the more you see bad HSBC reviews. While there are some favorable reviews of the company, a majority of them are bad reviews. There is even one source that has HSBC rated as 0.4/10 based on 395 reviews. That type of response is not too promising.
However, if it means anything to customers, workers at this company do seem to have a favorable view of HSBC, with a four-star out of five rating on Indeed, based on more than 1,000 reviews.
The primary benefit for someone who is thinking about using HSBC is that the company is an established banking company that has locations worldwide. This makes it a convenient bank for people who do a lot of traveling in their daily lives and need a bank with 24/7 access no matter where the customer is.
HSBC also offers essentially every banking service that you can imagine, so they act as a kind of one-stop shop for all your banking needs, so you don’t have to go through multiple banks for all your accounts.
They have also been around for almost 200 years, so many businesses and corporations are familiar with HSBC, which may make your transactions a bit smoother.
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Should You Use HSBC for Your Banking?
After this HSBC review, many of you are left wondering whether you should trust HSBC with your banking. Based on the controversy surrounding the company and the many negative HSBC reviews that are currently out there, it is in your best interest to use extreme caution when considering banking with HSBC, and you should do your own research to learn about HSBC before signing up. With many negative HSBC reviews from real customers, it seems wise to use caution when considering HSBC for your banking needs.
The great news for you is that there are thousands of options for you to search through for your banking needs, so if this isn’t the company for you, then there is no need to make a rash decision. Make sure that you are doing your homework before you sign any agreements or open up any accounts with a bank—any bank. Doing a good amount of homework and research can only be beneficial to make sure that you are using a company that you can trust.
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