A couple of years ago we started looking for a bank with higher rates than our local bank. I saw a lot of advertising for HSBC. When Kiplinger's magazine named HSBC the Best Online Savings Account, I thought what the heck and tried it. At the time, the rates were a lot higher than they are now.

What Does HSBC Mean?
The HSBC Group is named after its founding member, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, which was established in 1865 to finance the growing trade between China and Europe.

Online Banking
Many people search for a bank that is right down the street so they can walk into a branch and conduct business and have a more personal experience. It really depends on what your needs are. There are pros and cons for each.
Convenience and customer service wasn't a consideration when choosing between banks. For us, there was more benefit in using a virtual bank because we could get the higher rate with any balance and no monthly maintenance fees. Since it's a savings account, we do not need a bank that is open on Saturdays or has an ATM. The money can easily be deposited via direct deposit or an instant transfer.

Signing Up on the Website
Obviously you can't walk into a branch to fill out an application. One of my only complaints about HSBC Savings is the website because it's so difficult to get around. For example, to see information about savings accounts I have to click the Personal Banking tab on the home page. From the next page I have to click Find out More about Savings and Investing, then the next page I find my country in the drop down box and finally click the Savings link to get to get to the page to apply for one of the six savings accounts. There's just a lot of information on all of the pages because the bank offers a lot of services to many different locations. There may be better ways to get to the pages that I need but it's always a struggle for me to find the information that I'm looking for. I've found it more difficult to find my way around the website than any other bank.

Like any bank account, the social security number is needed when signing up. Once the savings account was set up I had to send my opening deposit of at least $1.00 which by the way is the least opening deposit that I've seen. It will take up to 3 business days to have HSBC send trial deposits from HSBC to your linked account. Once you see the deposits, log on to HSBC and enter them. The account can't be used until this is completed.

Transfers
Like everything else on this website, it takes many windows to make a transfer. Transferring money is easy once you find the right links. I choose bank to bank transfers and select my account and transfer the appropriate amount of money. There is a box in the transfer page that will tell you what your transfer fee will be. The bank your are transferring money from may charge a fee which would not be reflected in this box. I immediately receive an email stating the transfer took place, another email that the transfer took place, and then another email that the amount posted to my account. That's 3 emails for one transaction. It has always taken 3 business days for the transfer to arrive, then another day for it to post to the savings account. The transfer shows in the overview and the history can be accessed for 4 months.

Withdrawals
Exceeding the transfer limits on savings & money market accounts may result in HSBC closing the account.

For me, the purpose of this savings account is to save so out of site, out of mind. It would take me four days to access this money through a transfer.

I don't know how to get money out of an ATM. I did not receive an ATM card. I think the plan is to have a HSBC checking account also so the savings money can be instantly transferred to the checking account.

Monthly Statements
The only mail that I receive from HSBC is the end of year tax paperwork. I receive some junk mail, but not the volume of mailbox spam like I do from other banks. There is a box under the change your personal information to opt out.

I can find all of my monthly statements online as a .pdf. I like this because I'm terrible about filing. The only thing is, if you close the account, you will loose access to this information.

Customer Service
I'm just one of approximately 125 million customers in many different countries. I wondered what kind of customer service I would receive over the phone. I had to speak to customer service a few times and have always had a representative that spoke clearly and didn't sound like they were reading off of a script.

It's pretty pointless to call customer service for questions concerning your account because they won't answer anything due to security. I had a question about linking an account and was fuming because they wouldn't answer anything, not even hypothetically because I had a joint account. After they had a drop of my blood they answered my simple question. Although it's an inconvenience, I am pleased how hard it would be for an impostor to get information.

Mortgage
We had a mortgage with HSBC a while back. I do not remember all of the details now, but it was not a very good experience. Our mortgage was sold and there were challenges getting information moved. Our payments weren't posting correctly and customer service kept telling us to give it more time. There was no local branch to drop payments off at. It took about 2 months for things to smooth over. All things being equal, we would not choose HSBC again for a mortgage.

Other Services
The website has information on the following products: checking, savings, credit card (Master Card), mortgage, auto loans, term life insurance, identity protection plans and options for less than perfect credit.

Rate Changes
The reason I'm writing this review now is because I just got an email that informed me that my interest rate was going down again. I think it's the second or third letter already this year. Granted, the economy has a lot to do with it so I don't blame them for the spiral nosedive. However, my happiness is directly related to how much interest I'm making. When we signed up we were getting higher interest than other investing options. My reaction to my monthly statements when we first opened the account was a victory dance. My last monthly statement resulted in some cussing. In reflection, I don't really like the bank, I only like the interest rate.

Despite the decline in interest, the rate HSCB claims that their interest rate is still 8 times the national average, based on Bankrate's findings.

Overall
I hate the online experience, which happens to be the only experience that can be had with an online bank. It's the most frustrating financial site that I have used. I've tried for months to change my address online but it keeps timing out. Tight security is great, but it's a challenge for me to even log on because of the long account numbers, password and then using the mouse to enter a secret code. There's too much information on one site. Since the site is so frustrating, I would never consider opening a checking account at this bank. I feel like I can live with customer service as it is for the savings account because I know I won't be needing customer service very often.

I've been looking for an alternative savings account for some time but have not found one with better rates with so few requirements. I also have an ING Direct savings account which many people seem to compare HSBC to. I wish I could use ING Direct more because their website and customer service is better, but the bottom line is HSBC drops more interest is my account.

Recommended: Yes