jensteve

Well what can a person say, after 2 weeks waiting for a balance transfer I rang to find out they had decided they had no proof I was a perm resident, nice of them to ring to let me know as I was waiting to pay a bill. So faxed through passport, not good enough he says, then we post it, yep a week ago, check the balance today no money in account, whats going on me thinks, ring them up and the letter did not arrive it would seem with the photocopy of my visa, I asked whether initiative could be used as he knew it was important why he had not rung so I hurled abuse down the phone and went to the bank and closed all my acocunts.
I could not believe them, I own a business have a tax file number, an ABN own a home, even managed to get the first homeowners grant, supplied my payslips and even then they thought I was not a permanent resident. This was "jobs worth" beyond belief.
Well I arrived in Garden City chucked my passport at him and said close my accounts I want the money.

I have always been quite a fan of the HSBC, we opened the account from the UK which was hassel free, they got me a credit card when I first arrived to get me on the net etc. The only downfall in Perth is there are only 2 branches but the amount of crap I got over the last 3 weeks trying to get cash transfered from one account to another after proving I was now a working citizen is beyond me.

OK a note now to all, when you arrive make sure your bank has sighted your visa and has ticked the tax resident box on their screen, this would save loads of trouble in the long run. Also if you want a bank which has lots of branches don't pick HSBC in Perth as its a hike to any of them.

Moan over, bank account closed (just checked) just wondering what will happen next in the wonderful world of wait awhile WA!

Jenny

mad.chef

hello there
well as it happens i have just opened an account with them today. awww dont know what to think now might have to change my mind thanks for the info
all the best
Dave

Leeds_to_Perth

I've joined up with National Bank (city office) and had no problems so far, though I am yet to apply for any credit...very helpful they were when I went to open my account, explaing the differences between the UK system and the Aus way of doing things.

Max&Ozzy

Hi Jenny,

I got a nasty surprise from HSBC today too. What a shocker........!!!!!

A letter from HSBC international, Jersey politely informing me that they're changing their 'minimum balance relationship' to £25k balance on a current Acc, otherwise I'll incur the pleasure of a £20 per/month bank fee.

WTF is that all about.....!!!!!!!

graham

The Bloke

It means that you have to keep a minimum of £25k in your account or they will deduct £20/month in account keeping fees, ie you pay them for your account, similar to what banks do in Australia.

Been on the news since the announcement last week.

NedKelly

What differerecne does it make whether you are a permanent resident or not?

iPom

25K?

25,000 UK pounds? Are you quite sure? I thought it was 2.5K!

Leeds_to_Perth

If it's a Jersey bank -read offshore/tax free, I wouldn't be suprised if it was £25,000 minimum!

moneypenny20

No, ther're right HSBC International minimum balance will be 25,000UKP from Jan. First Direct have just upped theirs to 1,500UKP. I know which arm of the megolith I would have an account with. :scared:

I would assume though that normal common or garden account holders wouldn't have that sort of account with HSBC.

iPom

OMG! Sheer and utter madness imo. I'd better tell my hub... he gets contract cash put into his HSBC acc.

Vash the Stampede

LOL, too right mate!

Good to see you here, BTW. I hope you and Bronnie are settling down, and that everything's running well for you both.

Buzzy--Bee

It doesn't. The Perth HSBC staff cannot tell the difference between Permanent resident and resident for tax purposes it would seem.



Buzzy

Ozzidoc

Witholding tax implications? Also, depending on the amount of money, the "large sum" reporting requirements. (Used to be all transactions over 10K AUD were checked by the bank daily, and then reported to the govt.)

OzTennis

Of course the 'nice' First Direct people have said we'll waive the charge if your balance falls below £1.5K if you buy one of our other products such as a mortgage! I laugh when I read all the guff about the terrible overcharging Australian banks (compared to UK banks). As the lately departed Milton Friedman pointed out there is no such thing as a free meal or a free bank account - they make it up in some other way or hit some other people eg:

"As HSBC announced record profits for a UK bank on 6 March, there is clear evidence that the UK's largest banks are failing to meet the basic transactional banking needs of the poorest, de facto pushing them into the hands of the loan sharks:

Around 11 per cent of adults in the UK still don't have access to bank accounts compared with around 1-4 per cent for most European countries. And, when reviewed against deprivation indices the figures for the UK are starker still - 35 per cent of people in deprived areas don't have bank accounts.

The UK banking sector is dominated by five large banks, which together control 84 per cent of current account provision. In 2004, the four largest banks together earned profits in excess of £23 billion - earning in the region of £126 profit per customer in the UK compared with £70 per customer in 2003.

In 2004, the big UK banks delivered a return on equity to shareholders of 16 per cent, substantially above the average return of FTSE listed companies, while failing to meet the needs of the UK's poorest people.

The ability to open a bank account is fundamental to participation in modern economic and social life. In a world where we are increasingly encouraged to make direct electronic payments wherever possible, and are given incentives to do so - cash-only transactions are costly and challenging - eroding the earnings of those already on a very low income. "

OzTennis

sj oldfield

Sorry to hear about the hassle you have had with HSBC, butm on the other hand glad to hear we arent the only ones that have been driven nuts by them!!
their latest trick was to cancel the direct debit to pay our mortgage, they then insisted we instructed them to do it!!! After arguing with them I said does it matter why it was stopped, just bloody start it agin!!!!! Oh we cant do that they said.............need to know why it was stopped and that might take a few months!!!!!!!