A HSBC Direct Review
HSBC made a big push into the online savings account industry a few years ago and have already establish HSBC Direct (its U.S. online banking subsidiary) as a premier online bank offering high yield savings accounts. While, they have a relatively small footprint in the North America, HSBC is actually one of the biggest banks world wide with over 100 million customers and over $1.2 trillion in customer deposits.
Why I Opened a HSBC Direct Online Account
There are many reasons why I opened an HSBC Direct account, some of which are:
- The brand name of HSBC certainly help.
- The bank always offered one of the highest advertised yields available.
- Many of my family members living overseas have an HSBC account and they highly recommend it.
- The added convenience of being able to easily transfer funds between inter-countries accounts under the bank.
- My friend actually moved to the United States and had no credit here, but he was still able to get a HSBC credit card due to his relationship with the bank in Hong Kong. So this gave me the warm and fuzzy feeling with the brand.
While all of the above reasons were small, they collectively pushed me over the edge to sign up for an account.
Logging Into HSBC Direct
A neat security feature that HSBC Direct provide is its security-key screen when you log in. In addition to your username and password, the system will ask you to use your mouse and click on the keyboard on screen to provide a security key. This is great because it deters hackers from gaining access to your account by installing a keylogger (a software that tracks your key strokes) to steal your password.
Bank to Bank Transfer vs Intra-Bank Transfers for HSBC Direct
For some reason, HSBC decided to separate two different user interface for bank to bank transfers and transfers within different accounts under the same bank. While I’m sure the internals are much different, I don’t see what the difference is as a user. While this is not a problem at all for me (as I only have one HSBC account), this is nonetheless something I hope they update in the future.
HSBC Transfer Features
As you can see from the screen shot, you can setup recurring payments with HSBC like other online banks. I would rather see the flexibility to schedule a recurring transfer in any number of days (instead of picking from a preset list), but it is again a minor point because they pretty much cover all the common ones.
Another minor benefit for this online bank is that transfers are processed within the same business day if you put it in before 8pm Eastern Time (I’ve seen other offerings at 6pm or 7pm).
Thoughts on HSBC Direct as My Online Bank
With the simple interface, added security and unparalleled brand name, HSBC definitely has my attention as a top pick for my emergency fund. I also like this bank because it will periodically offer a very high yield for a promotional period (last time, it was 6% APY for 6 months). As those offers are only for new money, I would usually have an account setup and ready so I can transfer money into the it as soon as I see the advertisements. For those that don’t like to actively manage their emergency funds, having your money in this bank is also not a bad choice because it always offers one of the highest yields available.
If you would like to get started with its high yield, you can sign up here.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Like you, everyone of my family members have a HSBC account. They are the only institution my parents would bank with. It’s nice to know that they have more than $1 trillion in assets since I also have some stock in the company.
I need to check out the online bank though since I wasn’t aware that they have one.
Ben, I have a HSBC account and I can vote for their savings account (if case you need another vote). It works just as well as every other one so it all boils down to the yield for me. It’s sad to see that everyone is lowering their rates but at least this one still has more than 2%+. The worldwide presence like the review says is what drove me to them too.
Is HSBC Direct the biggest bank in the world? $1.2 trillion sounds like a lot of assets.
Ben: Just sign up for one since the cost of it is pretty much $0. If you don’t like it, you can either cancel (or just leave it open in case they have a good rate later on).
Richard: I share the pain about the rates, but some still have much more than 2%, and they all still beat the 0% at my local bank!
Allison: By market cap, it is the second biggest behind Industrial & Commercial Bank of China I believe. For a while, it was behind Citigroup and Bank of America but we all know what happened to them.
HSBC is the biggest bank in the world that is available in the states. Other other one is ICBC which is a China only one so unless you speak Chinese, HSBC is the way to go.
Calvin is right about HSBC being the second largest bank to the ICBC. HSBC Direct is getting pretty popular these days around here in Caanda because we just don’t have the options that you guys do in the States.
I bank with HSBC for business, both Mainland China and in Hong Kong and have a personal premier account in Hong Kong as well. We opened the HSBC Direct USA account in order have some banking back in the States hence credit. I have come to find out that this was a mistake as it is very difficult to transfer funds Bank to Bank (non US and non HSBC) as the verification process takes sometime and the second interface is just one more obstacle and actually does not work properly. Our Business and personal banking in Asia is perfect but the HSBC Direct USA has been frustrating as it seems to be tailored to the local corner bank on Main street USA and i am trying to close it right now.
We have HSBC online Banking here in Canada and I have been trying to transfer money from one account to another for days, with no luck. I just keep getting told that it can’t do it and to call their 800 number. I went to a BMO where they say I can use my HSBC bank card. Well, guess what! You can withdraw, deposit, and check balances but you can’t TRANSFER money. We are 3 hours away from their closest bank, so when we get there in the very near future we are closing out the accounts and moving our money back to the Royal Bank. Our High Interest savings account started out at 3.35% and is now down to .75%. Not worth the hassle anymore.