topic Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices in Credit Cards

HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Darinox — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 01:15:21 GMT

EDIT: Post no longer relevant. See HSBC exits from U.S. consumer banking.

Few months ago, I posted the following thread: HSBC HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard Approval & Same Day Personal Loan Approval (21k; cc; 30k lo... In a nutshell, I was approved for large credit limits after qualifying for a Premier Relationship and decided to move all of my assets to HSBC Bank from Chase. If you would like to learn more, I encourage you to read the data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau specifically on "Managing an Account" with HSBC Bank USA. To summarize, HSBC has

473 out of 1,849,608 total complaints filed from consumers related to "Managing an Account" with most complaints related to account holds and freezes. Moreover, recent Consumer Affairs complaints indicate an influx of complaints from customers who have their accounts blocked. It appears to be a common practice. See more here.

I must disclose here that I was aware that HSBC is well-known for placing account holds for extended period on consumer accounts. Nevertheless, I was stubborn and thought that this wouldn't happen to me as I neverhad any issues with account holds or bank freezes. My income derives from a private practice firm in which I am an employee and a private business that my family owns. I have not received any income from foreign sources outside of the United States in case you are wondering.

Below is a timeline of events:

February, 2020

1/ Accounts were blocked due to a credit card payment

2/ One week later, accounts were blocked again due to a credit card payment (same bank account as first)

August, 2020

1/ August 19 - Accounts were blocked because they wanted to confirm recent activity

2/ August 24 - Accounts we blocked again because of the "new status of the account"

September, 2020

1/ Accounts were blocked due to a mobile check deposit (9/14)

2/ Accounts were blocked again due to a mobile check deposit same source (9/30)

October, 2020

1/ Accounts were blocked and that block was not removed due to HSBC's "oversight"

2/ Block related to my personal loan because after they approved the loan and I signed the promisary note, HSBC had determined that "additonal information is needed to release the proceeds". Up to date, I am not able to get a copy of the promisary note which I had signed after requesting it multiple times.

3/ Final account block due to income disrepency which was placed after providing evidence of income.

The above report does not include 3-4 additional holds that were recorded on my end.

A block with HSBC is tied up to all of your accounts. For instance, if they block your credit card account it will likely result in all of your account blocks (including checking accounts) which means that you would not be able to make any transfer (ACH, wire or check deposits) and if you have your bills as recurring they will likely be returned back and you will be charged NSF fees. You will likely not able to log to your account, in other words, it's a complete shutdown.

All of my accounts have been frozen for the past month for an indefinite period. As of today, one month later after the final account hold, no one from HSBC is able to answer any questions and provide a timeframe as to when I will be able to withdraw my funds from HSBC and close all of my accounts.

I have raised multiple complaints with HSBC and have attempted to contact the employees responsible via telephone or email. I have left multiple voicemails prompting them to call -- all in vain. HSBC is the type of bank where promises are made to be broken and lies are meant to be kept.

HSBC's customer service is in India including most of their Premier Relationship CSR and Fraud Department CSR. While I am delighted with the services that I have received from overseas CSR with other banks (mainly in India/Philippines), I am afraid to tell that there's a quality issue with HSBC Bank USA. A simple call with HSBC goes around 30-50 min in length because of the inability to CSR's to transfer you to the right department which results in endless transfers between multiple departments. I have recordings of various conversations I had with them and even decided to count once the number of times I was transferred = 9 times around the same departments back and forth even spoke with the same representatives.

Attached are the letters and the relevant correspondence related to the above holds. If you would like to learn more about this in detail, I encourage you to read below.

Obviously, everyone decides for himself, but I want to alert you all in case you are ever thinking of doing business with HSBC Bank USA.

Edit: If you are considering opening an account because of the bonus payoff ($600/$750), there are a handful of complaints on HSBC not paying out this bonus (after meeting the requirements, of course). Read more here: CFPB Bonus Complaint Facebook and many more

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

gdale6 — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 14:39:15 GMT

Wow, I would be canceling my accounts quickly...

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Darinox — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 14:44:42 GMT

Yep - exactly. The only thing is that you cannot cancel your accounts until the investigation is complete and at this time they can't provide a timeframe as to when it will be completed. It looks like consumers in the UK are experiencing the same issues with HSBC, too. More here.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

RehabbingANDBlabbing — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 15:03:18 GMT

Thanks for sharing this information. People definitely need to be aware of this. I was considering getting the HSBC Premier checking because they have a $600 signup bonus going, but I can't risk tieing up most of my income with a bank that acts like this. I am certain you just saved me a lot of trouble.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Darinox — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 15:45:17 GMT

Thank you for mentioning that. I will update the main topic as I forgot to mention the $600 or $750 bonus payout. I fell for the bonus trap, as well. There are multiple reports on Facebook and complaints filed through CFPB regarding this bonus not being paid out to consumers. See more CFPB Bonus Complaint Facebook and many more. If you do your search on CFPB's database you can find out more about this bonus trap. I seriously cannot believe this is happening...

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Remedios — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 16:07:53 GMT

@Darinox I'm sorry you're having to deal with this, it's quite unfortunate.

I strongly suggest you try working with them to resolve this issue, then move on.

You opening this account was an emotional decision, since it was opened because Chase wouldn't give you an increase, and that was enough for you to move accounts to HSBC.

You were told that they aren't exactly the easiest one to deal with (for some, not all), so no matter what you do in the future, don't make any more angry, rushed decisions. They typically don't work out.

Good luck and I hope you regain control of your accounts quickly.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Darinox — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 16:23:32 GMT

Thanks for the feedback and kind words. I appreciate it.

The decision to move from Chase to HSBC was mostly for the lucrative credit lines and APR they give but apparently everything happens for a reason and this is the case with HSBC. Other then that, they are not responding to any of my calls/voicemails or follow-up emails and of course that was after I provided the all of the required income documentation they had requested on October 5, 2020. I was able to get the direct number of the person in charge of the investigation in Buffalo, NY apparently for no reason as he does not answer his call and/or follows back on voicemails.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Remedios — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 16:46:07 GMT

Have you filed a complaint with CFPB yet?

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

silver_idle — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 01:26:53 GMT

@Darinox wrote:
Few months ago, I posted the following thread: HSBC HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard Approval & Same Day Personal Loan Approval (21k; cc; 30k lo... In a nutshell, I was approved for large credit limits after qualifying for a Premier Relationship and decided to move all of my assets to HSBC Bank from Chase. If you would like to learn more, I encourage you to read the data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau specifically on "Managing an Account" with HSBC Bank USA. To summarize, HSBC has
473 out of 1,849,608 total complaints filed from consumers related to "Managing an Account" with most complaints related to account holds and freezes. Moreover, recent Consumer Affairs complaints indicate an influx of complaints from customers who have their accounts blocked. It appears to be a common practice. See more here.

I must disclose here that I was aware that HSBC is well-known for placing account holds for extended period on consumer accounts. Nevertheless, I was stubborn and thought that this wouldn't happen to me as I neverhad any issues with account holds or bank freezes. My income derives from a private practice firm in which I am an employee and a private business that my family owns. I have not received any income from foreign sources outside of the United States in case you are wondering.

Below is a timeline of events:

February, 2020
1/ Accounts were blocked due to a credit card payment
2/ One week later, accounts were blocked again due to a credit card payment (same bank account as first)

August, 2020
1/ August 19 - Accounts were blocked because they wanted to confirm recent activity
2/ August 24 - Accounts we blocked again because of the "new status of the account"

September, 2020
1/ Accounts were blocked due to a mobile check deposit (9/14)
2/ Accounts were blocked again due to a mobile check deposit same source (9/30)

October, 2020
1/ Accounts were blocked and that block was not removed due to HSBC's "oversight"
2/ Block related to my personal loan because after they approved the loan and I signed the promisary note, HSBC had determined that "additonal information is needed to release the proceeds". Up to date, I am not able to get a copy of the promisary note which I had signed after requesting it multiple times.
3/ Final account block due to income disrepency which was placed after providing evidence of income.

The above report does not include 3-4 additional holds that were recorded on my end.

A block with HSBC is tied up to all of your accounts. For instance, if they block your credit card account it will likely result in all of your account blocks (including checking accounts) which means that you would not be able to make any transfer (ACH, wire or check deposits) and if you have your bills as recurring they will likely be returned back and you will be charged NSF fees. You will likely not able to log to your account, in other words, it's a complete shutdown.

All of my accounts have been frozen for the past month for an indefinite period. As of today, one month later after the final account hold, no one from HSBC is able to answer any questions and provide a timeframe as to when I will be able to withdraw my funds from HSBC and close all of my accounts.

I have raised multiple complaints with HSBC and have attempted to contact the employees responsible via telephone or email. I have left multiple voicemails prompting them to call -- all in vain. HSBC is the type of bank where promises are made to be broken and lies are meant to be kept.

HSBC's customer service is in India including most of their Premier Relationship CSR and Fraud Department CSR. While I am delighted with the services that I have received from overseas CSR with other banks (mainly in India/Philippines), I am afraid to tell that there's a quality issue with HSBC Bank USA. A simple call with HSBC goes around 30-50 min in length because of the inability to CSR's to transfer you to the right department which results in endless transfers between multiple departments. I have recordings of various conversations I had with them and even decided to count once the number of times I was transferred = 9 times around the same departments back and forth even spoke with the same representatives.

Attached are the letters and the relevant correspondence related to the above holds. If you would like to learn more about this in detail, I encourage you to read below.

Obviously, everyone decides for himself, but I want to alert you all in case you are ever thinking of doing business with HSBC Bank USA.

Edit: If you are considering opening an account because of the bonus payoff ($600/$750), there are a handful of complaints on HSBC not paying out this bonus (after meeting the requirements, of course). Read more here: CFPB Bonus Complaint Facebook and many more

I have heard stories about them and how they would freeze funds and would say I probably wouldve said "would never happen to me" but Im glad I decided not to do business with them but this is also a reason why I have more than one checking account at different banks because if one get tied up for whatever reason atleast I have funds to fall on until things are resolved, but what they are doing is just not good at all. I would file a complaint and also contact an attorney about this and once your money is released to move it either back to chase or to a new bank where they wont be doing all of this. For me I use a credit union as my primary and a brokerage as my secondary.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

RehabbingANDBlabbing — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 17:27:23 GMT

I agree about having multiple checking accounts. I currently have quite a few:

DCU checking

Chase checking

Alliant checking

SoFi checking (don't recommend)

Cap1 checking

the only one of these even trying to charge a fee is Chase, but I send them $500 a month to avoid it. I'm using DCU as my primary account right now.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Darinox — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 19:13:57 GMT

Yes, I did. I filed another complaint with the Treasury Department's OCC (Office of Comptroller of Currency) few days ago, too.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Darinox — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 19:16:26 GMT

Right. I have the Navy Federal Flagship Visa Signature CC and I am very pleased with their customer service.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

FinStar — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 20:42:30 GMT

That's definitely interesting. I've being doing business domestically and internationally with HSBC for decades and thankfully, knock on wood, no major issues. There was a minor snag when I was approved for their HSBC Premier WE CC, but it was resolved within a few days with a bit of back-and-forth follow through. The CC SUB was awarded after meeting the requirements. I've never had any loans with them, though.

As far as the payments situation, that's definitely a head scratcher. I've pushed and pulled payments internally and have yet to experience any major issues other than a bit of lag time with posting, more so on the internal side.

Hopefully your issue will get resolved.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

AndySoCal — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 22:07:16 GMT

Depending on the amount of the deposit there are some holds that can be placed. See link below

https://money.usnews.com/banking/articles/if-you-deposit-a-lot-of-cash-does-your-bank-report-it-to-the-government

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Darinox — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 22:31:50 GMT

Thanks -- data points from complaints suggest blocks are common among new customers but there are some reports among long term HSBC customers. Nevertheless, I would exercised caution per the recent money laundering allegations. It looks like they have quite the history of dealing with oligarchs and drug cartels and were recently fined nearly $2 billion by DoJ. I wonder frankly why they are dealing with small fish like myself and other consumers instead of targeting the big ones like the billion of money they've helped laundered. Makes no sense.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Darinox — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 22:30:12 GMT

Interesting though the money that were deposited monthly are less than the threshold. Again like I said, they deal with small fish instead of aiming for the big catch.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Remedios — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 22:33:52 GMT

You really need to back up now.

Most major lenders have had some pretty serious issues in the past (and currently), mainly centering around not always following the regulations closely.

If you are looking for a lender without such a blemish, your money will live inside the mattress.

In my opinion, there is very little need for sour grape posts. None of that happened after your approvals. If you were concerned, the time to check up on legal issues would have been prior to jumping on their ship, but when milk sours "Oh well, they are dealing with drug cartels"

Your situation is unfortunate, and I can certainly emphatize with your plight, but let's not go to the extremes here.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Darinox — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 22:53:56 GMT

I agree with you no one is perfect and this is certainly true for most big banks; however, focusing on the "average Joe" is just a head scratcher. I mean come on; we are talking about deposits far less than the required federal reporting threshold. Others have experienced the same issues based on the complaint data. You know, I am just stating the facts!

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

FinStar — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 23:58:26 GMT

@Darinox wrote:
I agree with you no one is perfect and this is certainly true for most big banks; however, focusing on the "average Joe" is just a head scratcher. I mean come on; we are talking about deposits far less than the required federal reporting threshold. Others have experienced the same issues based on the complaint data. You know, I am just stating the facts!

Just to reiterate what @Remedios mentioned upthread, this is a common theme as certain regulations are relaxed while others are enforced in various areas of the financial services and investments sectors. It just depends on what violation occurs at a given time and the institution.

Let's not forget that JP Morgan, Chase, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, BBVA, Santander, Bank Of America, American Express, Discover, Capital One, SYNCB, Comenity, etc., all have been involved in countless allegations of wrongdoing (not to mention the scandals), so it's always going to be a toss up on any individual's experience, especially when things go wrong. And, since a variety of large institutions have been placed on a regulatory microscope in overhauling their internal policies, placing more robust and rigorous controls plus revamping their practices altogether even the "Average Joe" will no doubt feel the downstream effects.

Re: HSBC Bank USA - Read This Before Doing Any Business - Account Holds - Bad Business Practices

Credit12Fico — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 00:24:32 GMT

@RehabbingANDBlabbing wrote:
I agree about having multiple checking accounts. I currently have quite a few:

DCU checking
Chase checking
Alliant checking
SoFi checking (don't recommend)
Cap1 checking

the only one of these even trying to charge a fee is Chase, but I send them $500 a month to avoid it. I'm using DCU as my primary account right now.

Mhhmm!! Too many people are loyal to one bank, and that is just a very dangerous position to put yourself in. Have two banks that you bank with at minimum. They are not loyal to us, so you have no reason to be loyal to them.