The Deal at HSBC Bank

Aug 26, 2005 - 9:06 AM by Ken Tumin

I had mentioned HSBC in a previous post, but I thought it would be useful to highlight this deal again and to provide more information.

Here's my unofficial summary of the deal:

$50 signup bonus for new customers
Requires signing up for either interest checking or interest checking plus account
Requires opening of an HSBC Debit MasterCard with the checking account
Package includes a linked money market savings account
The Debit MasterCard account must remain active for at least 180 days
Offer expires 9/30/05

$50 is nice, but it may still not be worth it if the bank is not a good long term choice. After looking over the details, HSBC is not too bad.

Here's my simple comparison of HSBC vs ING Direct (ING) and EmigrantDirect (ED):

No minimum - Like ING and ED, HSBC has a money market savings account with no minimum requirements. You can start it with just $1 and don't have to worry about fees if it drops below any minimum. For online banks, I think this is an important feature. It takes awhile to get comfortable with an online bank. This allows you to slowly ramp up your deposits.
High interest rate - Probably the number one reason why you would be opening up an online bank account is the interest rate. The current rate for HSBC's money market savings account is 3.5% APY which is equal to ED and 0.2% higher than ING.
Easy to open - Opening an account at HSBC seems to be just as easy as ING or ED. I haven't tried HSBC yet, but their instructions, demos, and FAQs are better than either of the two other banks. Also like the other two, you can transfer money from your initial bank account to make the opening deposit.
Easy to move money - This too seems to be just as easy. They are advertising a feature called Bank to Bank Transfers. This seems more flexible than ING or Emigrant Direct.
Feels secure - I like their documented $0 Liability, Online Guarantee. They also provide a detailed description of their security protections.
Checking account - Unlike ING or ED, HSBC offers checking accounts with many features like free online Bill Pay. Even though you can link ING or ED to your existing checking account, moving money can take several days. With HSBC, there's no delay transfering money between your HSBC checking and money market.

What could be better?

For the $50 signup bonus, you can't choose their free checking. The two that you can choose from have minimum balance requirements or direct deposit requirement to avoid a monthly fee.
Bankrate.com's Safe and Sound score for HSBC Bank USA is only 3 out of 5 stars. ING and ED both have 4 stars.
They do offer CDs, but their rates are not competitive.
I Read some concerns regarding closing online accounts from this ibankdesign forum thread. I don't know the merit of this.

Post a CommentComments

In order of date posted. - Sort by votes

Anonymous - #1, Wednesday, August 31, 2005 - 3:01 PM

Let me see .... I could open the Smart Plus Package, but it requires a combined balance of at least $15k to avoid the $15 monthly fee. Or I could open the Smart Package, and keep $3k to avoid the $8 monthly fee. If I do direct deposit on the Smart Package, then I don't need to keep $3k - but that's too much work to switch my checking account. Plus there's a $25 penalty for closing the a/c within 6 months. In summary then, if I needed a new checking account, then the $50 signup bonus is worth it.

Z3trkrnr (anonymous) - #2, Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - 7:15 PM

I love my ING Direct account. It doesn’t have the highest APY but you won’t get better customer service anywhere else. Also, their online interface is just easy and awesome.
I also do still have many referral links left if anyone would like to contact me to receive a link (either for an orange savings account or the electric orange checking/savings account) to sign up for an account. You receive $25 for signing up with a min. of $250 or more. A nice little bonus for nothing! Just shoot me an e-mail @ z3trkrnr@gmail.com and I’ll send the link right back to you!

The Deal at HSBC Bank

Add Your Comment