pcuz

Hi All,

I know there are other threads on this but I wanted to find out if by opening a standard HSBC account in the UK for my move to Canada, if they take my UK credit record into account in working out if they will give me a credit card or not and the balance?

And for future asks of the bank (Mortgage etc) they will refer back to the UK to work out if we are good for the money?

Basically I want to make use of my good UK credit record as much as possible to get established. And while the advice seems to be on the whole UK credit history is worth nothing to most lenders that this could be one exception.

Thanks,

P

Biiiiink

I don't think they'd be able to do anything much for you - you'd be a new customer in the UK with no record/internal bank score. Probably better to start afresh with a Canadian bank of your choosing.

pcuz

Thats a shame! Sorry about the duplicate posts but the site was running slow and I must have clicked submit to many times!

livermanl

When i talked to HSBC before i got my mortgage they basically had a form that i could fill in which authorized them to check my uk credit score.

The difference between that and other banks is that other banks asked me to go and order my credit report from equifax or whatever they are called.

Also HSBC is very inconvenient in Winnipeg because there are only 2 of the in the whole city. The only thing i use my HSBC account for is transferring my Canadian money into my british account if it wasn't for that i wouldn't use HSBC at all.

London-England-Lads

I am HSBC's biggest fan on here. I would just pop in and ask them for the number of the international section and ask them !

They have been great to us so far ! But we were existing UK customers.

Rob

Surrey Expat

We've found them to be as good as useless. The computer systems are not linked and other than perhaps filling in a credit form there is no advantage to using them in both countries. The Canadian HSBC has no idea what the UK one does. So much for the worlds local bank.

Helen Parnell

[QUOTE=pcuz;6456778]Hi All,

I know there are other threads on this but I wanted to find out if by opening a standard HSBC account in the UK for my move to Canada, if they take my UK credit record into account in working out if they will give me a credit card or not and the balance?

And for future asks of the bank (Mortgage etc) they will refer back to the UK to work out if we are good for the money?

Basically I want to make use of my good UK credit record as much as possible to get established. And while the advice seems to be on the whole UK credit history is worth nothing to most lenders that this could be one exception.

Thanks,




We had great credit in the uk, but you come over here and basically you start again. We did not go through hsbc but opened a Canadian bank account. They gave us a Credit card with only $2000 on it, and they secured it so we were unable to apply for another one. After one year they took away the security part, we applied for a new one and basically within 4 years we were back to what we were in the uk.

It is one of those annoying things about moving to Canada. You have thousands in the bank, no debts when you move, virtually mortgage free, can pay cash for most stuff, but they will not lend you a bean until you can prove you are good with money:curse:

But look at the whole picture and not being able to run up thousands on a credit card can be good!

livermanl

Also to note...

If you really want quick credit Hsbc do all of the bricks 'financing' therefore if you plan on buying a living room set or a bed when you land look at the brick get it on credit and pay that as soon as possible (even the same day if you have cash). Then apply for credit at HSBC and they should accept you.

London-England-Lads

That is not correct, our credit score travelled with us, hence we were offered a 70% mortgage and a $25,000.00 line of credit (overdraft for us still in the UK)

Our Credit cards and cheque books were sent to us as were out atm card and when we went on our reccie to Toronto, we enabled the cards with a pin of our choice and the staff were wonderful to us and still are.

Also both our relationship managers have taled and corresponded on the phone with each other.

As I said we had a credit record with them, but I am sure if you transfer over in time it will be available.

I would suggest to PCUZ, for a cost of a call its worth it !

danfolkestone

The first person I spoke to at HSBC in Calgary told me that they two banks were separate companies which happened to have the same name, so he couldn't help me! Undeterred, I tried speaking to someone who knew what he was talking about and was offered an unsecured credit card before my PR application had even been opened in Mississauga. It seems to be a case of finding the right person to get what you want.

Our realtor has also assured us that his mortgage broker has obtained mortgages for a number of immigrants based entirely on overseas credit ratings. We're yet to put that one to the test, but I'll report back when I find out whether it's true!

Surrey Expat

It is correct, this was our experience. They are separate organisations with the same name and were as good as useless to us. The computers between HSBC Canada and the UK are not linked, give them a call and ask. As soon as you need account information or action in the other country they won't be able to do it.

We went with RBC, got credit cards (with no deposit) & acceptable limit, no hold on funds and they did not ask for a credit check. We had opened an account 2 years prior to landing, this may or may not have made a difference.

bazzz

I assume you're talking about the HSBC Premier account. This is only usually available if you stick a fair amount of wedge with them.

Chivers52

Before we moved we opened an HSBC accounts in Canada & UK account to make the transfer of monies smoother. Overall this worked but as for credit rating it made differnce at all. The only credit card we could get was a secured one, 2 years down the line we are still being refused for interest free credit so not much progress. It seems because we have no mortgage and pay our credit cards in full each month we are being penalised, it look's like the only way to get a rating is fall behind in your payments.

London-England-Lads

We are premier customers.

Our friends werent, they got a good service too and got a canadian mortgage through them on the strength of their UK record.

Maybe we and them have been exceptionally lucky !

All I am saying is for the cost of a call PCUK it would be worth get the facts from them directly !

Rob

Biiiiink

I wasn't a premier customer and got unsecured credit card and line of credit okay. There's no set of rules for dealing with new customers, it seems completely random - dig up any thread on the subject and there are those who've got what they wanted and those who haven't.

I didn't know there were 2 branches in Winnipeg but that would be double the number in the UK cities I lived in (and banked with HSBC) before leaving, so an improvement for me