The banking industry is becoming increasingly competitive with many of the major credit card providers moving in to local markets aided by the internet. This is true of HSBC as well as many of its competitors such as Capital One and Chase. The quality, breadth and ease of use of the provided services are becoming the overwhelming decision points, it is no longer necessary for the bank to have a storefront close to you, though that can still be important for some.
For HSBC customers in the north-east and west are indeed bank outlets where hsbc personal banking may actually mean standing face-to-face with another human being. For others across the country the sheer breadth and depth of hsbc personal banking services may well be one of the major discriminators in choosing to bank with HSBC.
Breadth And Depth Of Services
Perhaps the most well known form of hsbc personal banking are the broad range of credit cards that are offered through a variety of well know names. Orchard, Direct Merchant and their own HSBC labeled cards are all very popular cards, particularly for those requiring a second chance. HSBC has also entered into the market for providing merchant or store cards including such well known stores as BestBuy, CostCo, Saks and Nieman Marcus. HSBC personal banking can therefore provide you access to these accounts as well, and perhaps more importantly, guaranteed payments.
This is just the beginning of the capabilities of hsbc personal banking and financial services. Auto loans, mortgages, and even insurances are offered through the virtual store. HSBC has been quick to partner with leading industry providers of insurance such as AIG, Travelers and the Hartford Group to provide insurance based services and they are not directly associated with the actual holding of the insurance bonds. HSBC personal banking also includes the checking and savings products that are now considered standard in the industry.
Special Features Of HSBC Personal Internet Banking
Personal Internet Banking from HSBC is yet another fully featured component of hsbc personal banking services. This provides HSBC customers the ability to interact easily between HSBC accounts and even with accounts that are not HSBC’s. The Bank to Bank Transfers feature provided in the standard package of services is an exceptional product, particularly when used with EasyView service that allows you to look at your HSBC and nonHSBC accounts on one page. The Personal Internet Banking component of hsbc personal banking services also includes optional bill pay and electronic tracking features typical of any internet bank.
I’ve been an hsbc customer for 5 years and have a few random comments.
1. The “Online Savings Account” is awesome! Interest started at 5.6% and has dropped, especially with the Fed’s latest move - now it’s at 3.8% - but it’s still incredibly high for a savings account. It’s almost a CD! The only catch is that real, live tellers in a bank can barely help you - ie, you can’t show up at a branch and withdraw $3500. You can, though, link your HSBC ATM card to both your checking and online savings account (and when at a branch, use the ATM to transfer money from checking to savings, and write a check to cash).
2. The online banking has a bad security flaw. To log in, you first enter just your username and submit, and then you’re prompted to type your password and enter a “security key” with an on-screen keyboard. Flaws:
- people can read your security key over your shoulder
- the two-step login lets hackers verify that they have found a legitimate username! Try this - enter anything into the login box and submit. Chances are, random text is not a username, and HSBC will tell you that the username doesn’t exist! Hackers trying a brute-force attack can easily generate a list of known usernames, and then they only have to hack the password and security key. (fyi, i’m a web programmer with a security focus - this is Bad.)