Tripitaka

I've done my homework on banking for my move - at least I thought I had - and had decided to go with Coast Capital as their customer service has been excellent so far. However...

Since I contacted HSBC to enquire about their Premier offering, they have been all over me even though I made it clear I did not meet the requirements.

It turns out that if you do not meet the requirements for Premier, you can get pretty much the same offering using the Advance account but on a fee-paying basis. This interests me because HSBC have said that I can do the following:

• Transfer my UK credit score to the Canadian systems
• Open an account in advance in Canada
• Provide a Canadian-based credit card in advance
• Make transfers between my UK and Canadian accounts (and vice-versa) through internet banking / Global View

The first and last on this list are the really interesting features. Can anyone confirm or refute the HSBC claim about transferring the UK credit score to the Canadian systems? My expectation is that they would take the info from Experian/Equifax in the UK and put it on the Canadian equivalents; can anyone tell me what the equivalent is? I'm not interested if it is just assigning my UK credit score to my HSBC account as that is too narrow scope.

Also, for those that have HSBC accounts and use Global View to transfer funds, how does the overall cost compare to using brokers like HiFX etc? I noticed that the HiFX rate wasn't particularly good so I'm hoping that the HSBC inter-account rate will be a bit better to cover the £5 charge for the transaction on the Advance account.

JonboyE

I think this is what they mean.

The two big credit reference agencies in Canada that give personal credit scores are Equifax and Transunion. In BC most financial institutions use Equifax. I can't think of any way HSBC can populate Equifax's Canadian database with your UK credit history. I am pretty sure HSBC mean they will take your UK history into account when considering you for their products.

It is not necessarily a bad option. At least if you have a Canadian HSBC credit card you will be on your way to creating a Canadian credit score.

Tripitaka

I agree, but there are a number of options that would give me that after I arrive and the huge interest rates don't bother me as I pay off in full each month. If HSBC are NOT going to populate Equifax, that makes them a whole lot less attractive against Coast Capital as I'll still need to build a score rather than bringing one and CC are free banking whereas HSBC won't be.

I have a meeting with HSBC on Monday morning and I want to be informed before I go into it so that I can ask the specific questions.

rivingtonpike

We bank with HSBC at the moment in both Canada and the UK. Thanks to the equity from our house I must admit that we're Premier customers rather than Advanced, but I have - so far - nothing but praise for HSBC's Global View. We can move money around from UK - Offshore - Canada at no cost. The rates seem as good as I've found elsewhere as well. We had a credit card set up, a line of credit (overdraft really), chequebooks, ATM cards before we even landed.

Mind you, for day to day stuff I'm looking into Coastal Credit as well!

lmartin999

I have a HSBC Advance account. Globalview is good, its a $7 or £5 charge for moving funds between UK and Canada, but realtime is nice. The Mastercard is ok, not the best product out there in terms of rewards (I always prefer travel rewards, usually AMEX). I have a mortgage with HSBC (the Advance rates aren't bad) and can redeem points for a credit towards it which is ok. You can have lots of accounts under the Advance tag, including joint accounts which might be useful. I actually dont really use the chequing account (as it has a large line of credit attached) instead I use savings accounts for everyday stuff as it is free transactions and earns interest. I should add I have a HSBC two mins from where I live which is helpful. I also find my account manager very accessible by email as well as not requiring everything by fax
Works fine for me, which is all I really want from a bank account.

ducktastic

Yep this is our experience too. Our local HSBC on West Broadway can't do enough for us and we have had amazing service too. We needed to transfer a large amount from UK to Canada, so we did it in one go, while we were sat in the branch.The bank got us a very good rate for buying 'in bulk' rather than lots of little transfers.

Global view is fab.

Also we have a canadian debit/credit card, so on the ladder to building up a credit history too.

daisychain

We have the premier also and has worked FAB so far, but am sure I have not paid any transfer fees. They also said once we are over there we get a credit card, so all good.

DC

rivingtonpike

If you ask, you should be able to get a credit card before you move to Casnada. We did - and cheque books, ATM card etc. They all worked perfectly from day 1.

Tripitaka

Thanks all. The info I am really after though is:

1) Has anyone had their UK credit score transferred by HSBC to the Canadian systems - Equifax in particular - as they are telling me that they can do this but as JonboyE suggests, I think they are getting crossed wires. If not, then it will be a key piece of info for these forums.

2) Has anyone with a HSBC every directly compared the rate they get for transfers through GV compared to a broker such as HiFX. It would need to be a point-in-time measurement due to fluctuations.

These are the key things I want to consider before my visit to them on Monday. I think if they can't transfer the UK score and the rate they give through GV is more expensive than HiFX then they don't really have anything I will find useful.

Posidrive

Two things to consider:

-I don't recall you saying if Costa Capital would give you a credit card. HSBC definitely will, and without having to lodage a ridiculous security.

- As a worldwide bank who realize that not all immigrants will stay in Canada, they will be keen to keep you business even if you leave at some stage, so customer care levels should stay high. No experience of Coast Capital, but don't be surprised if customer care drops once they have your business.

My experience of HSBC has always been very good

JonboyE

I would be very surprised.

Me too.

Tuppence

It's an internal banking score which is transferred, not Equifax. We have Premier and it's been great, but it's completely free so that makes a huge difference to me.
I didn't really care that it was only an internal score, as $20k credit card and good mortgage after arriving on a work permit was extremely useful and zero hassle.

Rich_London

I've just got my Advance account card and cheque books through the post in the UK, they said they wouldn't do a credit card until i had a fixed address in Canada which we wont have until March. Has anyone managed to get the cc sorted out without an address?

Also, my main account in the UK is First Direct, i have an HSBC current account but dont really use it. Either way the First Direct account seemed ok for them to open me up the advance in Canada however i dont see my UK HSBC account on Global view.... I assume to get the "free" transfer option (up to christmas they say) i need to transfer from HSBC UK to HSBC Canada not First Direct UK to HSBC Canada? Does my UK HSBC need to be anything other than an normal current account to show up in Global view?

Tripitaka

They won't do anything until I land, which is the downside. Lodging a security is a new one for me though - in the UK, you either get a card or you don't; as a new immigrant with zero credit score, am I likely to be requested to lodge a security to get ANY card? What are the collective experiences here?

Thanks for the info, this is what I was looking for. It sounds like there may be hidden benefits to HSBC that I hadn't considered; as usual, the info on this forum is extremely useful.

rivingtonpike

For the purposes of getting the Credit Card issued before we were permanently in Canada we initially used a friend's address. Then once the cards were issued we informed them we would be returning to the UK for a while and so could they amend our address for statement purposes etc accordingly. They were happy to do this - no questions asked...