About two months ago I migrated my personal banking over to HSBC. For those unfamiliar, they are a very large multinational bank with a limited presence in the US market. Overall, I have been very impressed by HSBC's customer service. My banker went above and beyond to streamline the migration of my personal assets. Moreover, they are offering some really good incentives to switch.
My banker emailed and offered up the "opportunity" to apply for the card. The SUB is very attractive but the YoY benefits are mediocre, my banker mentioned they are working on some value adds that will be announced soon. You must have an existing "Premier" relationship with the bank to apply for the card and the application is not available online. I was emailed a PDF to fill in which I submitted promptly. About two hours later I received a phone call with an approval. They pulled Equifax (~730) and gave an SL of $85k. No additional verification was required as some have reported here. No derogs on my profile, primary negative scoring factor is new accounts and inquiries.
The card was sent FedEx overnight and arrived this morning. Unfortunately, it is a massive chunk of metal that is engraved like a plaque which I think is totally ridiculous. I requested a plastic card and was told they don't have one to offer. So while this thing will probably detroy my wallet, at least I will have a weapon for self defense :-). Anyway, for anyone in search of a new bank, I highly recommend HSBC. My calls are answered immediately by friendly and professional folks. If anyone needs any additional information on the card or the process, please don't hesitate to ask!
