The HSBC Direct 5.0% promotion | HSBC | Discussion forum

Hi, just wondering if anyone is using this account with success? I have a PC account and wanted to open the HSBC to get the extra 1% in interest, but upon activating the account, noticed that the fine prints mentions 'applicable service fees to transfer to outside bank accounts' and also *does not* mention that the money would be earning interest during the 5-day holding period immediately following a transfer into the account.

With only a month left to earn 5% I'm not sure it's worth it for the difference in case there are service fees so wanted to ask for any opinions. For what it's worth, from the time I mailed in my cheque to actually having the account opened took almost 1 month, and I had to email three times before getting a non-automated reply.

there is NO service charge of any kind for the direct savings account. interest is still accrued during the holding period, at least to my knowledge, but i never did the calculation myself to verify the interest payout.

chris said:

Hi, just wondering if anyone is using this account with success? I have a PC account and wanted to open the HSBC to get the extra 1% in interest, but upon activating the account, noticed that the fine prints mentions 'applicable service fees to transfer to outside bank accounts' and also *does not* mention that the money would be earning interest during the 5-day holding period immediately following a transfer into the account.

With only a month left to earn 5% I'm not sure it's worth it for the difference in case there are service fees so wanted to ask for any opinions. For what it's worth, from the time I mailed in my cheque to actually having the account opened took almost 1 month, and I had to email three times before getting a non-automated reply.

Good for you for reading the fine print....The applicable fees are $10 within Canada and $30 to transfer to the US - basically it is a wire transfer and the receiving bank my still hold the funds, I found this to be a great account, until I learned about Citizens Bank http://www.citizensbank.ca - I now have all my accounts at Citz, and I am in the process of closing HSBC - Citz is very responsible, discloses everything - no surprises, they are Canadian owned and operated, their call centre is in Canada, no fees to transfer, higher Interac Limits (i.e. standard daily Interac purchase amount is $99999, hold on ATM deposits on 2500$ or more, free personalized cheques, ATM withdrawal limit is $1000 per day, automatic Line of credit/overdraft of $1000 (subject to credit score) all these benefits are STANDARD - If you open a chequing account $8.00 per month covers all, or savings accounts are totally free - (the $8 fee is waived if you have $1000 on deposit) HSBC website is very difficult to manoever - it is always down for upgrades - especially on weekends, and ATM's always seem to be down on Sundays - Would highly recommend Citz, and stay out of HSBC, ICICI, ING (foreign and poor service).

Jeff said:

chris said:

Hi, just wondering if anyone is using this account with success? I have a PC account and wanted to open the HSBC to get the extra 1% in interest, but upon activating the account, noticed that the fine prints mentions 'applicable service fees to transfer to outside bank accounts' and also *does not* mention that the money would be earning interest during the 5-day holding period immediately following a transfer into the account.

With only a month left to earn 5% I'm not sure it's worth it for the difference in case there are service fees so wanted to ask for any opinions. For what it's worth, from the time I mailed in my cheque to actually having the account opened took almost 1 month, and I had to email three times before getting a non-automated reply.

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Good for you for reading the fine print....The applicable fees are $10 within Canada and $30 to transfer to the US - basically it is a wire transfer and the receiving bank my still hold the funds, I found this to be a great account, until I learned about Citizens Bank http://www.citizensbank.ca - I now have all my accounts at Citz, and I am in the process of closing HSBC - Citz is very responsible, discloses everything - no surprises, they are Canadian owned and operated, their call centre is in Canada, no fees to transfer, higher Interac Limits (i.e. standard daily Interac purchase amount is $99999, hold on ATM deposits on 2500$ or more, free personalized cheques, ATM withdrawal limit is $1000 per day, automatic Line of credit/overdraft of $1000 (subject to credit score) all these benefits are STANDARD - If you open a chequing account $8.00 per month covers all, or savings accounts are totally free - (the $8 fee is waived if you have $1000 on deposit) HSBC website is very difficult to manoever - it is always down for upgrades - especially on weekends, and ATM's always seem to be down on Sundays - Would highly recommend Citz, and stay out of HSBC, ICICI, ING (foreign and poor service).

I'm not sure where you got your info from, I have never been charged a fee for transfers in/out of HSBC. And yes, you are earning interest during the hold period (just as you would with most banks). Perhaps you are not referring to the HSBC Direct Savings Account. If you are not, then I can't see why anyone would settle for any other account with HSBC not less you really need to deal with a teller (and if so, then you should stay away from online savings account period). For myself, to avoid the hold time on transfers from another bank, I instead just deposit cash (or a cheque) from the other bank by visiting any ATM thats a part of the exchange network to deposit funds into my HSBC direct savings account as with my credit standing HSBC does not hold any deposits into the account from an ATM deposit.

If your HSBC account currently has ATM holds on deposit (as mine did initially), ask them to have this removed (they may either look at the length of time you've been with HSBC or ask you to run a credit check). There is no way to get by bank to bank transfer holds as every bank needs to place them, but I believe this is the best alternative.

Jeff said:

I had trouble at first with HSBC, because of the way you have to enter your password - ie - 3 random digits of it, as opposed to the entire thing.

However, now that I got my account unlocked, this account is amazing! It is a high interest bill payments account, with free withdrawals at all BMO & HSBC Bank Machines! I've made a withdrawal out of a BMO machine last month for $60, I now have my statement, and have paid no fee. I also paid a bill just to check out how it worked, and there were no problems from Enbridge on the next months statement. I'm pretty happy, 4.25%, and you don't need to transfer money out to get it for bill payments, or cash emergencies, there are many BMO ABMs around - that saves around a day or two compared to other accts that you have to transfer money out of. Great job HSBC!

I am thinking of signing up for the HSBC account and would like to know if it is suitable to be used as my primary chequing and savings account. What bill payment options does it have and how many ABM or Interact transactions can i perform a month? Also if i am payed via a direct deposit can i have my pay go directly to this account. From what i am reading now it appears the account should be able to handle almost all regular chequing account functions with out fee's. Except for writing cheques. Is this a correct assumption?

Thanks for the info. I have just applied for an account.