Hsbc Bank, Bangkok - Good Or Bad 'premier' Service

[edwardmoulton]

Hi there, anyine have any good bad or indifferent stories about HSBC's PRemier service for high net worth customers... I had a nightmare with everything goign wrong so closed all accounts and cards but I'd like to know if I was unlucky or if others had the same poor service...

We had so much trouble opening accounts, misubderstandings, no explanations (I was with my THai wife so no 'miscommunication'!), no choice of accounts...

We were given incorrect interest advice and had so many messages and calls unaswered...

When we complained we had the palm us off' routine and could not get to know the superiors' contact details...

Finally got the boss in HK who was very helpful but what a struggle getting there...

Closed accounts with lost intersest re-credited in the end but they still managed to over charge on the credit cards and no apology or anything. 'Not my fault' scanario...

Anyone care to comment...?

[rigpigonjuice]

I am a Premier customer, but my main accounts are in Singapore (offshore). I have an account in Bangkok and only have used it to transfer in money to buy my harley. I have used the branch in Bangkok to do some offshore banking, and they where able to help me.

The only complaint I have is, that the last time I went into the branch, I was waiting to see an accounts manager and a Thai family came in. They took one look at me and then proceeded to try to steam roll in first. The lady that is at the little counter as you come up the escalator, was about to take them in, until I stood up and said I will not stand for this treatment. I will be the next one in.

The assisant manager came over and had to explain to the Thais, that I was first and they had to wait. This was not taken well by them. If looks could kill, I would have been dead.

I was quite pleased as they then sat down and watched me stroll in. The Hi So's couldn't believe that a heavilly tattooed, goatee wearing, 6'5" skin head farang with shorts and flip flops was being helped first.

[southerndown]

I am a Premier customer, but my main accounts are in Singapore (offshore). I have an account in Bangkok and only have used it to transfer in money to buy my harley. I have used the branch in Bangkok to do some offshore banking, and they where able to help me.

The only complaint I have is, that the last time I went into the branch, I was waiting to see an accounts manager and a Thai family came in. They took one look at me and then proceeded to try to steam roll in first. The lady that is at the little counter as you come up the escalator, was about to take them in, until I stood up and said I will not stand for this treatment. I will be the next one in.

The assisant manager came over and had to explain to the Thais, that I was first and they had to wait. This was not taken well by them. If looks could kill, I would have been dead.

I was quite pleased as they then sat down and watched me stroll in. The Hi So's couldn't believe that a heavilly tattooed, goatee wearing, 6'5" skin head farang with shorts and flip flops was being helped first.

This sums up today's Thailand

I am a premier customer and yes things go wrong but if you hold your ground they put it right. You did precisely the right thing. On leaving you should have smiled and said sawatdii krap to them. and something like me farang go first you kon thai you wait. better if in Thai but they probably understand enough english to get the message. they would have said something similar to the counter clerk "we are thai he is farang so we go first and because of thye class system she wouldm be under pressure to comply. it was not her fault. they probably said "man farang" it is a foreigner.

[Soutpeel]

Anyone care to comment...?

Was with HSBC for many years and in end moved my account to Citibank international personal banking in Singapore....reason....HSBC customer service is Sh*te....

Been with Citi IPB for last 4 yours and couldnt be happier, excellent service always...

[chiang mai]

My Premier account in Hong Kong is the bees knees, it does everything I want and more, often very complex transactions and it's all done over the internet. My account in BKK is virtually useless and I use it simply as a repository for Baht which I withdraw via ATM, I dread having to go to HSBC for any reason because it's always a drama and the result is usually wrong. On that note, my UK Premier account is not much better than BKK. For whatever reason, everything I try to do via the internet with HSBC UK changes to a manual system as some point whereby the bank wants to send me forms to sign etc. or waits for a person in the bank to make a decision - they've missed the point about customer service and use of internet banking by miles. Apply online for this that or the other and supply (again) lots of personal data and it ends with, we'll write to you with our answers. Disturbingly odd!

[sgunn65]

I have premier accounts in Thailand, Uk and Jersey. I do all my banking via the phone and internet. I only use Bangkok as a conduit to channel my money from offshore.

Most of my experience of using Bangkok is negative. I had a business account which was useless as they give you a cheque book which is as much use as a chocolate fireguard here. When I closed the account I got back half a million baht in cash at HSBC in Bangkok which they then refused to let me deposit in my personal account!!!!! Idiots!

I have mostly good things to say about the internet and phone banking though and the free bank transfers save me around 1000 sterling a year.

[beammeup]

Hi I also have accounts in Sing and Jersey with HSBC but would like to open an accout with HSBC in BKK. I am a Premier account holder. Does the relationship balance with my other accounts count in Bangkok? I want an account in BKK but dont want to keep much money there and I dont want to pay fees for not having enough.

[cmsally]

I'm with "Chiang Mai" in that I find UK service generally poor but HK and Singapore very good. I haven't tried to open at HSBC BKK as I wouldn't use it enough to be worth the trouble.

I know quite a few people who use Standard Chartered in BKK and no complaints and have dealt with Standard Chartered Sing. who seem very efficient on par with HSBC Sing. & HK

The only complaint I have with HSBC Premier is that if you don't keep in regular with your personal contact there, the email you have will suddenly become invalid as the person has moved. They don't send you a new contact person unless you are a regular enquirer.

Edited May 25, 2009 by cmsally

[tutsiwarrior]

is it possible to open HSBC account in Singapore or Hong Kong without a local address in either location? Does HSBC in BKK offer an account holder without a work permit a credit card facility? I have a premier account in Saudi which has been excellent but will have to close the account when I leave...thought about using the HSBC premier service to open an HSBC account in asia somewhere...

Edited May 25, 2009 by tutsiwarrior

[Shah Jahan]

Slightly offtopic question

IF you open an account at the HSBC or Standard Chartered in the BKK branch, can you have a strings free - foreign currency USD account like in HK or sing. Meaning they arent charging you 'special' fees to move USD in and out?

or so I have to go to a civilized country to get that?:

[samtam]

Hi I also have accounts in Sing and Jersey with HSBC but would like to open an accout with HSBC in BKK. I am a Premier account holder. Does the relationship balance with my other accounts count in Bangkok? I want an account in BKK but dont want to keep much money there and I dont want to pay fees for not having enough.

Yes - if you are a Premier Account holder anywhere else it qualifies here in Bangkok without having the high balance requirement.

I agree that the HK service is excellent. UK service is hit and miss, and Jersey, (thru Singapore, go figure), is also a bit hit and miss, and their team is one of the most arrogant and idiotic that I have come across with unqualified spotty youths providing "investment advice", which merely satisfies their need to sell certain products which are by no means suited to your particular need.

Unfortunarely "Premier" has become a purely marketing tool, and in days of yore the service you receive is what you should have expected from your bank anyway. As with many things, if you're not happy the best way of getting a good result is to bitch about it, and to someone important.

[Abrak]

I have an HSBC premier account but I use it sporadically. The big advantage of HSBC is their global network, so for instance, I use them for business in Vietnam.

The problem, I find, is that their service is both mediocre and expensive. For instance say there is a need for faxed instruction, they will ask me to send a faxed instruction. A 'good' premium service bank will email you the faxed instruction ask you to sign it and fax it back.

In my experience UBS are by far the best personal premium bank and Merrill Lynch the worst.

[kudroz]

Well, I'm very happy with the Premier service in Bangkok. They remotely opened my account by express mail from Chiang Mai. I never visited the branch, so I cannot comment on the service you get in person.

A few weeks after my account was open, I received a 500,000 THB limit Premier Mastercard without even asking for it. They have the best reward program in Thailand. I'm earning lots of points and getting cashback with their HSBC Thailand promotions. The card is a Mastercard "World", so I don't get charged any fees and get the interbank fx rate when buying stuff in other currencies.

The debit card is also good, only 10 or 20 baht to withdraw money from other ATMs nationwide.

Phone banking is great; their English proficiency trumps all of the other banks i dealt with in Thailand. I'm a very happy customer and recommend them to all my friends. This is by far the best banking experience I've had in Thailand.

[Theyreallrubbish]

I've found HSBC Premier in the UK to be excellent. I decided not to set up a Bangkok HSBC account because while I was trying to set it up they were so idiotic and unhelpful I decided to pass. Even the UK rep who was trying to help me couldn't believe the crap they were telling him and told me flat out, "I don't believe what they are saying"!

I do find that you have to spend time on the phone to get anything done, but they answer very quickly and its always a Scottish person on the line.

[OhDear]

is it possible to open HSBC account in Singapore or Hong Kong without a local address in either location? Does HSBC in BKK offer an account holder without a work permit a credit card facility? I have a premier account in Saudi which has been excellent but will have to close the account when I leave...thought about using the HSBC premier service to open an HSBC account in asia somewhere...

I hope this is still in time to be any of use to you.

Yes, you can. You have to do it (apply) through your home Premier. They will then arrange it for you. I had mine (HK, JP, SP) open from the UK. A lot of paper work and phone call to the staffs in the HK, JP and SP about their respective forms/application, how to fill them 'CORRECTLY'. You may need at least 4-6 weeks to deal with the paper work. They are pleasant and very helpful. Never try to cut the call short and always call you back when they said they would. Important things is to keep a copy of everything you submit for you own ref.

Edited August 29, 2009 by OhDear

[tutsiwarrior]

is it possible to open HSBC account in Singapore or Hong Kong without a local address in either location? Does HSBC in BKK offer an account holder without a work permit a credit card facility? I have a premier account in Saudi which has been excellent but will have to close the account when I leave...thought about using the HSBC premier service to open an HSBC account in asia somewhere...

I hope this is still in time to be any of use to you.

Yes, you can. You have to do it (apply) through your home Premier. They will then arrange it for you. I had mine (HK, JP, SP) open from the UK. A lot of paper work and phone call to the staffs in the HK, JP and SP about their respective forms/application, how to fill them 'CORRECTLY'. You may need at least 4-6 weeks to deal with the paper work. They are pleasant and very helpful. Never try to cut the call short and always call you back when they said they would. Important things is to keep a copy of everything you submit for you own ref.

thanks for the info...I'm looking into an HSBC offshore account now as time is getting short; I'll be leaving saudi at the end of next month and in a pinch I can shift everything to a 'holding account' with first direct (HSBC affiliate) in the UK...no internet with one of these (do transfers by phone) and an offshore account would be preferable for that purpose.

the big hassle with all of these HSBC accounts when you are non-resident seems to be with proving your actual residence address. My actual residence is in Thailand and everything associated, ie., utilities, etc are in the wife's name. All I got is a P O box and that is not sufficient in most cases. HSBC offshore said that my employers can certify my address in saudi but the job is ending soon...round an' round...

[pj2706]

I opened an HSBC premier account here in Thailand to try and escape their extortionate international transfer charges. Unfortunately, to open internet banking, HSBC in Bangkok required from me an email containing my ATM card No. and its pin No!!! Unbelievable, needless to say that account remains empty and unused.

This is a pity as I could just drag and drop money transfers without incurring any charges.

You also get free use if HSBC lounges in airports(Iif you can find one)

I think that you are misreading something, I certainly did not have to supply ATM card No. and PIN No. when setting up internet banking. In fact HSBC security I think states that they would never ask for such information. Have you contacted HSBC and asked them about it. If you have a Premier account your relationship Manager should be able to clarify and assist with actioning Internet Banking. From personal experience HSBC Thailand have been very attentive and responsive, I cannot say the same about Australia however.

No I did not mis read something, the vice president of their customer relations apologised and said sorry but thats the way things are. He also appreciated that not many customers were going to supply that information. This was a couple of years ago and their requirements may have changed.

[Heng]

Nothing exemplary (as in, none of the gals working as customer service reps have invited me into a conference room for a quickie), but on par with the service I've gotten with Standard Chartered and OCBC. Cold calls pitching other investment instruments stopped completely when asked, no fine print fees, no forex rate games as far as I can tell, interest is credited when I expect it, and oh yeah, they haven't driven their bank into the ground and still look pretty healthy institution wise.

I did have my Singapore account opened first though, so the account opening hoops were less apparent perhaps, and I don't really use my debit card much so haven't had any card issues.

[Chunky1]

I tried to open an HSBC premier account awhile ago, although not in Bangkok, and it was a miserable experience. At the time, I already had $100k in an HSBC money market account so I thought the process would be rather smooth yet I still had to fill out a 4 to 5 page questionnaire "What can we do sell to you" application, then having a moron go over my answers "So would you be interested in blah blah blah", then finally my application had to be mailed away to be processed at which point there were questions over sources of my income. I gave up at that point.

[nongkers]

I have an HSBC a/c in hong kong,really good service,easy to set up and always ring you back. U.K as useless as most of the rest,how UK became a major banking centre is a wonder.Bangkok was ok when I had a female personel asst,she was promoted and i got a inadequate young man who has yet to fulfill a simple request.

[jfchandler]

Maybe one of the HSBC account holders here can explain something about this...

To qualify for Premier status in the USA, HSBC wants total deposits with the bank of $100,000 U.S. $. And yet, even with that amount on deposit, their interest rates on all their various accounts are pitifully low.... Parking $100K with them earning virtually nothing is a huge waste of potential earnings....

So the question is.... why in the world would anyone park that kind of money with HSBC to obtain Premier status when you could be earning far more with the same amount of funds in any number of other safe, government insured investments?

[rgs2001uk]

^^^^ For JFC.

That would depend on whether you have a resident or non resident account.

Also depends on the currency of the account.

[jfchandler]

^^^^ For JFC.

That would depend on whether you have a resident or non resident account.

Also depends on the currency of the account.

How about elaborating on your meaning above... in what kinds of scenarios could plunking down $100K with HSBC make any kind of financial sense?

[OriginalPoster]

^^^^ For JFC.

That would depend on whether you have a resident or non resident account.

Also depends on the currency of the account.

How about elaborating on your meaning above... in what kinds of scenarios could plunking down $100K with HSBC make any kind of financial sense?

I don't have a premier account myself but recently checked into it at the HSBC branch in Singapore. One of their options for obtaining the Premier status was to invest a certain amount on a monthly basis into a unit trust. That didn't help me any because US citizens can't buy unit trusts in Singapore, but perhaps if someone happened to want to invest in a unit trust anyway (and was eligible to buy them through HSBC) it would make sense to park the required amount of money with them with them.

[jfchandler]

I've never talked to HSBC Singapore. But what I see on their HSBC Singapore Premier web site is that they want a deposit of 200,000 Singapore dollars (about $161,000 U.S.) to qualify for the account based in Singapore. On the same page, they're advertising time deposits at 0.88% per annum.

http://www.hsbc.com....sbcpremier/home

I didn't quickly see the 0.88% rate, but I did see "special" rates for Premier account holders that are worse...

It also looks like, in reading the terms and conditions of HSBC's Singapore dollar accounts, that they are insured for only up to S$50,000, which is a pretty darned small amount compared to the current U.S. FDIC insurance limit of $250,000 U.S. per account.

It's interesting that HSBC's dollar thresholds for qualifying for Premier accounts seem to vary quite widely by country.

The U.S. threshold is $100,000. The Singapore amount works out to about $161,000 U.S. And the last time I checked, the UK amount was equal to about $75,000 U.S.

Edited May 20, 2011 by jfchandler

[jfchandler]

(duplicate deleted)

Edited May 20, 2011 by jfchandler

[CaptHaddock]

Maybe one of the HSBC account holders here can explain something about this...

To qualify for Premier status in the USA, HSBC wants total deposits with the bank of $100,000 U.S. $. And yet, even with that amount on deposit, their interest rates on all their various accounts are pitifully low.... Parking $100K with them earning virtually nothing is a huge waste of potential earnings....

So the question is.... why in the world would anyone park that kind of money with HSBC to obtain Premier status when you could be earning far more with the same amount of funds in any number of other safe, government insured investments?

Yes, the HSBC interest rates are indeed very low. But it can still make sense to open a Premier relationship for these reasons:

1. You can open an HSBC Direct online savings account that gives marginally better rates than the regular bank accounts. Currently, it just got lowered to 0.80%. Yes, that is very low, but the going rate for online savings accounts at the moment.

2. Your assets in an HSBC brokerage account count toward the USD 100k minimum. Now the HSBC brokerage transaction fees are truly unconscionable ( cf. USD 1267 commission to do a trade that cost me USD 2 at Vanguard.) However, you can transfer holdings in without a fee and you are not obliged to do any trading at all. So, if you have a position that you expect to keep for years you can transfer that in and use it to meet some or all of the minimum balance requirement. In that case, the opportunity cost of the Premier account becomes negligible.

However, they will charge you USD 75 to transfer a position out. So, if that is a possibility it should become part of your cost/benefit analysis.

I use these two methods to meet the requirements. I like the atm without foreign exchange fees and with reimbursed atm charges as well as the Mastercard without foreign exchange fees. We are just about to open our HSBC BKK account which is handy since we are not in Thailand yet. That account will provide a local credit card if we wish, but we don't plan on it. Seems better to use the US HSBC Mastercard without the foreign exchange fees in order to get the US mandated fraud protection features. We expect the free transfer service to be a big plus when we are in Thailand.

As far as the service goes, it seems like other banks. They make mistakes and we have to get on the phone repeatedly to fix them. The part I dislike is having to field calls from various reps trying to sell me the kind of overpriced financial products that I haven't considered in decades. I haven't heard from them lately though, so maybe they realized they are barking up the wrong tree.

We are keeping other bank accounts here, such as USAA. If HSBC is not worth it to us after we have settled in Thailand, we will close it and use the ACH transfer method to Bangkok Bank.

[jfchandler]

Thanks for the detailed response, Captain....

I didn't realize HSBC in the U.S. was in the brokerage business.... and nice to know those balances would count toward meeting their bank's Premier status threshold... So I'm assuming things like IRAs would be able to meet or help meet their requirement for Premier.

Curiously, I haven't seen many/any posts by Americans who use the Premier account functions to move funds from the U.S. to Thailand, so I'd be interested to hear from someone who's actually doing that as to just what the fee (if any) and exchange rate details are with them. HSBC has never been particularly good about that in the past at least in other (non-Premier) respects.

As for the various benefits you mention, by comparison..

Schwab Bank offers a combined checking and brokerage account -- no fees and no balance minimums or activity requirements -- that provides a VISA logo debit card with no foreign currency fee and reimburses foreign ATM fees.

Cap One offers a variety of credit cards that have no foreign currency fee and no account fee... They also have some of those same cards that provide 1 or 2% cash back on routine purchases.

Notably, both of those banks' cards come in VISA flavors, which offer somewhat better exchange rates than their (HSBC) MasterCard brethren -- all other things being equal.

That leaves the foreign transfers capability... For most Americans, setting aside the Premier issue, the likely best/most economical transfer route is sending/ACHing funds through Bangkok Bank's New York branch and onward to a BKK Bank Thai account, which typically has a $5 to $10 fee by the New York branch and then another $7 to $16 (200 minimum to 500 baht maximum) commission of 0.25% on the Thai end...

That's assuming, however, that someone doesn't just use a no-fee ATM card to withdraw funds from U.S. accounts direct via ATMs in Thailand, either AEON with no fee, or Thai banks with a U.S. account that reimburses foreign ATM fees.

[CaptHaddock]

Thanks for the detailed response, Captain....

I didn't realize HSBC in the U.S. was in the brokerage business.... and nice to know those balances would count toward meeting their bank's Premier status threshold... So I'm assuming things like IRAs would be able to meet or help meet their requirement for Premier.

Curiously, I haven't seen many/any posts by Americans who use the Premier account functions to move funds from the U.S. to Thailand, so I'd be interested to hear from someone who's actually doing that as to just what the fee (if any) and exchange rate details are with them. HSBC has never been particularly good about that in the past at least in other (non-Premier) respects.

As for the various benefits you mention, by comparison..

Schwab Bank offers a combined checking and brokerage account -- no fees and no balance minimums or activity requirements -- that provides a VISA logo debit card with no foreign currency fee and reimburses foreign ATM fees.

Cap One offers a variety of credit cards that have no foreign currency fee and no account fee... They also have some of those same cards that provide 1 or 2% cash back on routine purchases.

Notably, both of those banks' cards come in VISA flavors, which offer somewhat better exchange rates than their (HSBC) MasterCard brethren -- all other things being equal.

That leaves the foreign transfers capability... For most Americans, setting aside the Premier issue, the likely best/most economical transfer route is sending/ACHing funds through Bangkok Bank's New York branch and onward to a BKK Bank Thai account, which typically has a $5 to $10 fee by the New York branch and then another $7 to $16 (200 minimum to 500 baht maximum) commission of 0.25% on the Thai end...

That's assuming, however, that someone doesn't just use a no-fee ATM card to withdraw funds from U.S. accounts direct via ATMs in Thailand, either AEON with no fee, or Thai banks with a U.S. account that reimburses foreign ATM fees.

I understand that Cap One requires you to notify them every 90 days that you are outside the US. I have also heard other complaints about Cap One, but I can't really say whether they are exceptional in that regard. In regard to your question about HSBC Premier, yes, you can count IRAs and even mortgage balances against the required minimum. I'll bet their mortgage rates are really an atrocity.

For our credit card needs in addition to HSBC US Mastercard, we have Penfed Promise VISA, which is no annual fee, no exchange rate fee, and no late fee. The last feature is valuable to me because I have had CC issuers delay depositing my checks in order to charge a late fee. We also maintain a couple of Amex cards for US purchases and for diversification. We wouldn't make foreign charges on them though.

As you recognize, HSBC Premier is the only source of both free international transfers, atm cost reimbursement, and cards with no foreign exchange fees. As long as we can manage the opportunity costs we'll continue to use them. Since HSBC's main motive for the Premier product is direct, personal access to us for marketing their financial products, they may realize that we are never going to be valuable to them and they could dump us at some point. That's why we maintain multiple accounts and cards.

So, we feel we are reasonably covered for the forseeable future. But how much of the future is forseeable?

[jfchandler]

Captain, those are good comments...

About Cap One, they are more finicky about account holders maintaining U.S. addresses of record on their accounts.... They also want card holders to notify them if they're going to be traveling abroad, for security reasons... And their system usually requires account holders to re-up that information every few months... Most people do keep some kind of U.S. address, so that usually isn't a big deal. And considering they have no foreign currency fee and cash back on some of their cards, they probably are one of the most popular credit cards for frequent international travelers.

About the PenFed Credit Union's Promise Visa card, indeed, that's a very good package.... low interest rate and no fees for almost anything, including foreign transactions... They don't, however, to the best of my memory, have any cash back provisions on that card. They do, though, typically have better interest rates on carried balances than Cap One does.

As for HSBC Premier, I basically see it coming down to this.... the no foreign currency fee feature and the foreign ATM fee refunds are features that can be pretty easily obtained from a variety of other sources that have no extravagant balance requirements, in contrast to HSBC...

However, as you pointed out, the options for free international funds transfers are much much more limited. I don't believe HSBC is the only one to offer that... Some other large balance accounts like Citi Gold I believe offer similar benefits... But for non-large balance accounts, the pickings are slim...

So it leaves me with the following sense: is the value to me of "free" international funds transfers worth the lost opportunity income of locking up $100,000+ with HSBC (unless someone, as you pointed out, perhaps has a retirement or existing brokerage account with them that satisfies the balance requirement).

For me, considering that people have multiple no-cost opportunities to do foreign ATM withdrawals with no fees as a way of accessing funds, there's no compelling advantage of HSBC. And even if those weren't available, considering the relatively low-cost alternative of BKK Bank's New York transfers, I'm not sure that analysis would change.

But, that's my analysis for the way I look at those things... I can understand where other people would have different ways of looking at it.... But if someone is really locking up $100,000 of otherwise investable funds at .50% interest with HSBC just to gain those benefits, I'd really have to question the cost-benefit analysis of that kind of decision.