Posts about HSBC

HSBC's Credit Card Policies Feel Like 1994 All Over Again
Victor knows that shopping at Best Buy isn't a popular choice around here, but he really likes getting 4% back in Reward Zone points to spend on even more stuff at Best Buy. That does sound pretty sweet. In this situation, his actual beef is with HSBC, the bank that runs Best Buy's credit cards. He made some big purchases, then made an electronic payment from his bank account to pay off the balance. Now there's a mysterious hold on the account, and he can't use the card. Turns out that large electronic payments are "held" for eleven days to make sure everything clears. Longer than it would take with a paper check. Unable to make any more purchases with his card, Victor just went and bought his iPad 3 somewhere else. Darn. More »

CFPB Now Taking Complaints About Checking, Savings Accounts
Seven months after launching its credit card complaint portal, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has started taking complaints from checking and savings account customers — and actually expects banks to respond. More »

How The Different Credit Card Issuers & Networks Handle Chargebacks
Whenever someone has a dispute with a merchant over a credit card charge, we always suggest they attempt to issue a chargeback through their credit provider. But not all card issuers and credit card networks handle chargebacks in the exact same way. More »

Why Does HSBC Need To Conduct A 15-Minute Interview To Add My Wife To My Savings Account?
Back in the wild and crazy mid-2000s, when we were all taking out adjustable-rate mortgages on vacation properties in Nunavut, Consumerist reader Matt decided to take advantage of the attractive interest rates on HSBC's high-yield online savings accounts. More »

Banks To Offer Foreclosure Reviews To More Than 4 Million People
Millions of Americans have lost their homes in the last few years and — as any reader of Consumerist knows — the banks who foreclosed on those properties have also made more than their fair share of errors. Thus, starting today, 14 of the country's largest mortgage servicers are contacting millions of foreclosed-upon former homeowners to offer them the opportunity to have their cases independently reviewed. More »

Got An HSBC Credit Card? It Will Soon Be A Capital One Card
Two months after upsetting ING Direct customers by agreeing to buy the online bank for $9 billion, the Capital One vikings/barbarians have announced a deal to purchase HSBC's credit card division for $2.6 billion. More »

Judge Orders HSBC CEO To Explain "Frivolous" Foreclosure Motion
When HSBC failed to prove it even owned the Brooklyn home it was attempting to foreclose on, the judge in the case not only dismissed the bank's foreclosure motion but also ordered the CEO of its North American division to give an in-person explanation of why he shouldn't penalize HSBC for what he calls a "waste of judicial resources." More »

9 Of The Most Annoying Bank Fees
The banks of America are breaking new ground every day in the science of nickel-and-diming consumers with fees that start from the second you open an account to the moment you angrily close your account... only to move it to another bank with a different set of fees. But since there are so many ways in which financial institutions can bleed your account dry, the folks at CNN Money have come up with their list of the most annoying fees. More »

Maine Supreme Court Reverses HSBC Foreclosure On "Untrustworthy" Paperwork
Maine's Supreme Judicial Court has overturned a foreclosure brought by HSBC against a local homeowner, citing affidavits submitted by the bank as "inherently untrustworthy." In vacating an earlier decision, the court declared that HSBC's records "are not of the quality that would be admissible at trial." More »

Middlemen Blocking Mortgage Mods
Homeowners trying to get loan mods often run into resistance by banks who say they're powerless because they need to protect the interests of investors. But ProPublica reports a recent lawsuit uncovered a document where, when HSBC polled investors, a majority of those responding say they favored letting the loans being modified. More »

HSBC Joins List Of Banks Warning It Will Probably Get Fined For Improper Foreclosure Practices
HSBC is the latest in a string of banks who warned investors via their SEC filing that they expect to get fined after getting a letter from regulators chastising their improper foreclosure practices. On Friday, Wells Fargo, Ally Financial (formerly GMAC) and SunTrust banks made similar announcements. More »

Subprime Credit Cards Are Back, Now With Extra Interest!
After a couple years of hiding in the shadows, credit cards targeted at consumers with less-than-stellar credit ratings are once again making a push to gain new customers. More »

HSBC Just Assumes You Want The $90 Check-Printing Service
Adam never received checks for his new HSBC account, so he stopped by his branch to order some. He must have struck bank employees as the kind of guy who demands nothing but the best, since branch employees handed him the order form for the most expensive checks. The ones that cost $90. More »

Know Your Bank's New Checking Fees To Avoid Getting Slammed
The first reaction to your bank instituting new fees on your "free checking" account in 2011 might be sheer, overwhelming panic, or maybe rage, indignation, or some combination thereof. But don't be afraid, fee-haters, there are ways around extra charges to your account. More »

HSBC Redefines "Opt-in," Won't Accept "No" For An Answer
Daniel came across this page while logging in to his credit card account. "I can sign up, sign up, say yes or be reminded later. I couldn't find anywhere on this page that would let me say 'No, I don't want this'," he writes. "It seems kind of, well, wrong to not give a customer the option to NOT opt in." More »

Best Buy Forgives $500 In Interest Just Because I Asked
Mike forgot to pay off the balance of a purchase he made on a Best Buy/HSBC credit card by the no-interest deadline and faced more than $500 in charges. On a whim, he followed our advice for launching an Executive Email Carpet Bomb and Jedi mind-tricked Best Buy into forgetting about the interest. More »

HSBC Closes Bank Account Over 14 Cent Overdraft
"Don't overdraw your bank account" is pretty sound advice. However, reader Phil advises that if you do happen to overdraw your HSBC account—even by a few cents—the bank will mercilessly close your bank account with no warning. That's what happened to him. More »

Man Offers To Set Car On Fire To Save Home From HSBC Foreclosure
John admits on his blog that he's responsible for falling six months behind on his mortgage. But once he got over his divorce and losing his adopted son and started trying to make things right, he ended up in loan modification limbo at HSBC. The bank never moved forward on any modification, and now he has to pay $21,638.02 today if he wants to keep his house. Logically, he's offering to burn his car and post the video online in return for donations. More »

HSBC Helping Out Mail Thieves By Sending Out Pre-Activated Debit Cards
Legitimate businessmen aren't the only ones who need stimulus packages to get their games rolling again. Dudes who dig through peoples' mail and steal debit cards can also use a little loving. HSBC understands this fact and is helping out by sending out pre-activated debit cards, Knowzy reports. More »