kullymack

HSBC used to do a passport account from the UK where you could set up your account before you went to Canada and have your converted currency put into it.
I went to the bank and was told they have stopped doing them and also said you can open up an international account with Canadian currency in it.
I was wondering how easy or hard it would be to open an account with HSBC when I get to Canada and if the funds in the international account can be transferred easily or if anyone has had any experiences in this?

Silverdragon102

Nothing on their website indicates they don't do it anymore but may be worth phoning the International banking office. We used did it 2 years ago and the International banking office was great and sorted all problems we had before we left the UK and credit cards, debit cards, cheque books and paying in books was delivered and activated also before we left the UK

talltrucker2

Hi, I opened a HSBC premier account in the UK, you have to have over £50.000 in to the account to open it.But after we opened it we found out if you pay a fee of a £100 you can open a bank account in any country, the account worked for us because you can transfer money between accounts for no extra cost, plus you get the interbank exchange rates, which are sometimes higher than hi-fx or halo...... hope this helps.....

kullymack

What if you take about 15k to 20k can you have a international account with HSBC?

talltrucker2

Hi...

Yes you can open an account for a £100.... here is the link...



http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/t...Q0P5:12c58t9vd


Go down to how we can help highlighted in red...

christmasoompa

I'll move this in to the correct part of the forum - the immigration section is only for visa/legal related queries, not for general moving or life in Canada type stuff.

Hopefully you'll get more response then.

JET747

We opened HSBC while in the UK. Problem is that in Edmonton there are 3 branches in the city and 1 in the south. We had debit cards for the chequing account sent to us that did not work.

They fixed that, but at first they wondered what it was all about as the account is set up with central bank in burnaby.

All of the Canadian Banks have branches everywhere. The only thing that it has proved handy is we had cheques sent to us which I have voided to set up direct debit payments / PAYE. If you could hold out I think I would shop around as there are some good deals for newcomers with other banks.

JET

JB0591

Hi

We have just set up our HSBC account in Canada. We did this from the UK. If you have dont have £50,000 in a HSBC account then you can pay £100. (if you choose to convert your HSBC account to an advanced account then you pay £50....please note advanced account costs £12.95 per month in UK but is discounted for first few months).

The process for opening an account is straight forward, you ring the HSBC international banking centre and they will fill in an application form with all the details...please note passport numbers and driving licence numbers will be needed etc. Once they have gone through the form they will email you a password protected pdf.....they will tell you about the password etc. The pdf is sent so you can review then accept the T&Cs...it is an active document that changes the look of it once you click accept....you then print the final version.

The next step is to go into a HSBC branch with the form and relevant details/forms of id etc....the branch staff will photo copy and certify the paperwork and see it off in the internal mail.

After a few weeks you will receive eveyeverything the account....to access internet banking you do need to ring up the canadian telephone banking system to get the TelePin once you have your debit card.

Anyway....thats our experience of opening up a HSBC account....we are on our way to Toronto today for recce trip so will be trying our debit cards once we get out there.

Cheers

JB

daisychain

JB how long did it take to set up in total? We are still waiting for ours, apparnetly its been processed in Canada but no sign of any cards/paperwork yet?

Thanks

DC

JB0591

Hi DC

It was 3 - 4 weeks from popping into HSBC branch in UK. All documents were sent by courier from HSBC branch in Canada (Vancouver area) to our home address.

Just done a money transfer via online banking and there was no fee (till Jan 2011)

Cheers

JB

m4mm4l

We opened an HSBC account 12 months ago when we landed in Ontario, it was easy enough but unfortunately we have found it quite difficult as their ATM's are few and far between (though you can also use BMO ones).
I will be changing to either TD or Scotiabank this weekend as they seem more abundant.

misplacedheidi

TD are very helpful and have loads of machines. WE bank with HSBC in the UK and love them there, but you can't beat a Canadian bank in Canada.

cheeky_monkey

Why bother with HSBC why not just open an account at a Canadian bank when you arrive..its so easy and straight forward and like it has been said easy access to branches ATMs etc...that does not exist with HSBC

skippy2107

I was planning on opening a HSBC account before I went based on what I read on here. No much point if the account's rubbish when you arrive. Good for transferring funds though...

JulieandDave

By the way, it's got worse for access to ATM's you can no longer use BMO. It stopped back in March.

We still bank with HSBC only because we live right by one, but if we didn't it would be tricky.