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HSBC Premier - Real benefits?

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  1. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by hktraveller:
    If you open an account at HSBC London you will automatically get a Sterling based debit card.
    I have GBP accounts - no idea where in UK, but its definitely onshore UK, and Jersey. Do you have to open the account in person? I opened USD/HKD/GBP accounts in US/HK/UK simultaneously and only got offered US card. Asked for a HK card when I arrived. Have been trying and trying for years to get GBP card. Any suggestions?

  2. #22

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    I opened it from here (international banking centre - HSBC premier).
    UK, not Jersey.
    Another option would be neteller.com . I tried them and it works like a charm. If you want to wire money from the UK you need to set the UK as your home country.


  3. #23

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    OK, so basically I'll stick with what I have a present then.

    I will at some point check out the benefits of Citi premier banking (or whatever its called) over SCB premier.


  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by penguinsix:
    Free global transfers is big if you have accounts around the world. HSBC's relationship manager in the US for our account there has been stellar, helping us move some money around now and then beyond that which is easily done online. They also helped us open an account in the UK despite being a non-resident, which is difficult to do on your own.
    Free global transfers may be convenient, but it is not free because HSBC HK offer the worst exchange rates of all the banks in Hong Kong. I can't believe people get sucked into this trap, they make you feel good with "Premier" status and some candies and you think you are getting a good deal. But they are ripping you off.

    Seriously, I just compared HSBC to 18 other banks in Hong Kong, compared 3 currencies (AUD, EUR, GBP) and HSBC rates are dead last against the other 18 banks. I'm not going to list them all out here, but just as an example for Euro today HSBC buy is 10.2688 and sell is 10.4372. Their sister bank Hang Seng is 10.328/10.376 which is where the majority of the other banks lie. But if you want a really good deal then go to public bank which are offering 10.3403/10.3703.

    HBSC is dead last in their exchange rates amongst all the major and minor banks in Hong Kong. WAKE UP PEOPLE. HSBC ARE RIPPING YOU OFF BLIND!

  5. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by bdw:
    Free global transfers may be convenient, but it is not free because HSBC HK offer the worst exchange rates of all the banks in Hong Kong. I can't believe people get sucked into this trap, they make you feel good with "Premier" status and some candies and you think you are getting a good deal. But they are ripping you off.

    Seriously, I just compared HSBC to 18 other banks in Hong Kong, compared 3 currencies (AUD, EUR, GBP) and HSBC rates are dead last against the other 18 banks. I'm not going to list them all out here, but just as an example for Euro today HSBC buy is 10.2688 and sell is 10.4372. Their sister bank Hang Seng is 10.328/10.376 which is where the majority of the other banks lie. But if you want a really good deal then go to public bank which are offering 10.3403/10.3703.

    HBSC is dead last in their exchange rates amongst all the major and minor banks in Hong Kong. WAKE UP PEOPLE. HSBC ARE RIPPING YOU OFF BLIND!
    Rates may be worse, but how does this balance out with the various charges associated with a global transfer? I presume with Premier these charges won't be applicable to you?

  6. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by bdw:
    Free global transfers may be convenient, but it is not free because HSBC HK offer the worst exchange rates of all the banks in Hong Kong.
    Is that really relevant? While related, there are a lot of people like me, who do not need exchange but just transfer. I have my GBPs, CADs, USDs and txfer them around the world without without exchanging them.
    I can't believe people get sucked into this trap, they make you feel good with "Premier" status and some candies and you think you are getting a good deal.
    Its called service and convenience. Similar to Central doctors offering you big waiting rooms with nice leather couches, similar to bars that offer you free high end nuts, these are perks that some of use like and dont mind paying for.

    [[SNIP a whole bunch of quotes]] pls go ahead and calculate how much difference its going to make on a typical transfer of a few thousand $$$ Most people are not going to care about such minor amounts.

    Those who are about to transfer serious amounts of money should negotiate and/or go with a specialist.
    HBSC is dead last in their exchange rates amongst all the major and minor banks in Hong Kong. WAKE UP PEOPLE. HSBC ARE RIPPING YOU OFF BLIND!
    Mandarin Oriental is the most expensive hotel in town, the Chinnery serves up expensive scotch. They are certainly not ripping you off if they are being upfront about what they are offering and you are accepting it; you're paying for service and convenience.

    For those that deal with multiple countries, multiple investments, multiple currencies, I've yet to find a more convenient bank than HSBC.
    bibbju and hktraveller like this.

  7. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    Rates may be worse, but how does this balance out with the various charges associated with a global transfer? I presume with Premier these charges won't be applicable to you?
    Global transfer does not necessarily mean exchange. I rarely exchange: I move AUD from HSBC Australia into an AUD account here; ditto GBP and USD in other accounts.

  8. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by HowardCoombs:
    Is that really relevant? While related, there are a lot of people like me, who do not need exchange but just transfer. I have my GBPs, CADs, USDs and txfer them around the world without without exchanging them.Its called service and convenience...
    To get to the 115 HK$ charged for an international transfer you would need an exchange of 14748 HK$ to have the same amount of exchange loss. And we haven't looked at the charges of the receiving bank yet.
    If I need to pay 120 Euros to someone in Germany, I global transfer them to HSBC France and then TT them to the German supplier without charges from there.
    Who can compete? Probably with a Citibank account in Germany it would also work. But have you seen the exchange rates at CITI? At least their free withdrawal ATM card sucks great at the exchange rate so that I don't use it.

    On top of that my premier status comes with a profit. I have a long term time deposit in China that pays 4.7% interest.
    Last edited by hktraveller; 20-08-2014 at 09:29 AM.

  9. #29

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    Oct 2014
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    I set up a premier account in the US after being recommended by a coworker before I moved to HK. Sole purpose was to move funds between accounts and feed my other US accounts accordingly. Although when I set it up in the US they had a minimum deposit of $100K USD for a premier account. When I setup my HSBC HK account they told me their minimum amount was $1M HKD for a premier account but if I met the US minimum then I did not need to maintain the minimum in HK.

    I wonder if they are giving out free premier accounts here in HK and it is for a limited period of time, do they enforce this minimum after the free period is over? Or did I just get screwed with this minimum?


  10. #30

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    We only need to maintain minimum balance in one of our HSBC account. The rest of our accounts will not be subjected to minimum balance requirement.

    shri likes this.

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