HSBC Current Account Robbers

harita


Joined: 14/08/2008
Posts: 1343

Message Posted:
20/05/2009 17:48

Went with a friend today to close a sterling account opened in 2004 with £60 .. Only £40 was in the account ..

£20 for the pleasure of looking after the money .. How much would there have been say 150TL was placed in a deposit account for 5 years ??? ..

keithr


Joined: 20/08/2008
Posts: 720

Message Posted:
20/05/2009 17:53

Go and see Julie Dawn Younger upstairs,there must be a valid reason for this.

zcacmxi


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 388

Message Posted:
20/05/2009 18:49

I heard that HSBC charge a monthly fee for accounts. Is probably that.

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
20/05/2009 18:53

That's a 30% charge over 5 years! Does'nt sound right to me. Make a complaint.

zcacmxi


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 388

Message Posted:
20/05/2009 19:02

£20 charge over 5 years = £4 per year.



Does not seem too unreasonable. Account charges in the UK can be as high as £10 per month!

madturk


Joined: 25/03/2009
Posts: 217

Message Posted:
20/05/2009 19:17

are you a banker by any chance

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
20/05/2009 19:27

Just can't trust these Chinese!



Richard

harita


Joined: 14/08/2008
Posts: 1343

Message Posted:
20/05/2009 19:27

No transactions .. Six months & it would be gone ..

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 00:02

HSBC/Turkey charges a fixed sum per month. Only one charge is made even if you have multiple accounts. It is not a question of percentages. I think its fair enough.

ismet

wanderer


Joined: 05/02/2009
Posts: 1653

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 09:43

Banks make enough money out of non interest bearing accounts and money in the "system" being transferred

If you agree to fees with one they will all start and your money will be eaten up before you know it .

If you lent your car to a friend you would not pay him for the privilege of using the car as well

The banks have the use of your money let them pay!

rcroton


Joined: 05/06/2008
Posts: 192

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 12:08

I think its very fair and happens on lots of bank accounts

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 13:10

msg. 10

Wanderer,

But if you park your car in neighbours garage he may ask for a monthly fee!!!

ismet

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 13:34

All banks are legalised robbers, thieves and vagabonds!



Richard

harita


Joined: 14/08/2008
Posts: 1343

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 13:37

No-one has put their thoughts to my question ..

How much would there have been say 150TL was placed in a deposit account for 5 years ??? ..

Jimmyboy63


Joined: 16/03/2009
Posts: 400

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 14:49

3 yrs ago i went to open a current account with HSBC in Girne but when they told me there was a monthly charge i declined and took my business elswhere.



The point i am making is Mess 1 they must also have informed you of this monthly charge!

zcacmxi


Joined: 30/11/2008
Posts: 388

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 15:20

harita, I would advise that you ask some questions when you open an account with any bank:



1) What is the interest rate?

2) Are there any access restrictions on withdrawal (instance, notice, fixed term).

3) Are there any monthly fees?



If they don't make you aware of these things in the literature, and you do not ask them to explain, then you may get shocked when you come to withdraw!

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 15:28

Bertolt Brecht "I always withdraw I'm reliable like that"!



Richard

harita


Joined: 14/08/2008
Posts: 1343

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 15:38

zcacmxi

I am happy with accounts I have .. No problems .. The point of posting was for a friend who placed £60 sterling in a current account 5 years ago, closed the account yesterday & drew £40..

My question is hypothetical .. If 150TL (ie. £60 @ the rate of 2.5 which it was 4/5 years ago) had been placed in a deposit account & left for 5 years how much would you expect to be in the account now ..

Sideways



Joined: 21/01/2009
Posts: 529

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 15:43

Ref: mesage 14.

harita,

150 TL at an average 15% p.a. over 5 years = 301.70 TL less say 50TL charges.



Pete.

kaiserphil


Joined: 14/12/2008
Posts: 1096

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 15:50

Jimmyboy63 - "The point i am making is Mess 1 they must also have informed you of this monthly charge! ".

Why must they - they didn't tell me?

This is Cyprus we are talking about, forget logic and common-sense behaviour.

harita


Joined: 14/08/2008
Posts: 1343

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 15:54

Thanks Pete .. Seems that was the mistake made .. Told investing the lira was risky .. Would virtually have doubled their money & not lost £20 on the deal .. How much would the bank have made holding on to the 60 quid for 5 years ..

decanddyl


Joined: 17/01/2009
Posts: 792

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 16:03

sorry if I put £60 in I would expect my £60 back plus the interest, in fact I would be furious if I got any less.

harita


Joined: 14/08/2008
Posts: 1343

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 16:19

decanddyl

So would I .. No interest on a current account .. But would have expected £60 back

scruff


Joined: 15/07/2008
Posts: 1070

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 16:27

Once upon a time, bank charges were imposed on UK. bank current accounts. Then they were mostly withdrawn & "free" banking started. During this period, in many cases, interest was paid on current accounts too. Now in the UK. again many current accounts impose conditions for free banking.



In Cyprus there has never been free current account banking. Note I say current account.



If you want to bank FOC of charge here, you have to open deposit accounts. It does not matter if the deposit account is in Sterling, lira, euro etc. Obviously rates of interest with differ.



Until recently I had a current account with a chequebook with Turk bank. I paid about £5 per quarter in charges. In addition stamp duty (tax) is paid on the cheques when a book is purchased. This also used to be the case in the UK. years ago. I have now closed the checking account because I no longer need the facility.



I'm sorry to say, that you cannot expect things in Cyprus to be as they are in the UK.

scruff


Joined: 15/07/2008
Posts: 1070

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 16:33

Here, you need to ask questions & ensure that you understand what you are getting involved in.



Also time deposit accounts, which pay the highest rates of interest are not like instant access accounts in the UK. If you want your money back before the time period is up, you will lose interest. If you want immediate access to your money, without loss of interest, you require a deposit account, but you will earn much less interest.



Make sure you know what you are getting & the Terms & conditions. Ask questions. Don't just expect to be told the T & Cs. As I said before, Cyprus is not the UK.

phylray



Joined: 21/09/2007
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
21/05/2009 23:39

I don't think it happens in u.k as I have an account with them & it is still the same

but I will watch it!

rigsby


Joined: 21/09/2007
Posts: 912

Message Posted:
22/05/2009 11:02

Ask hsbc how much they charge for a cheque book,We paid 30ytl 5 years ago!!

spudlov


Joined: 15/02/2008
Posts: 100

Message Posted:
09/09/2009 19:42

So are there any banks in N Cyprus offering charge free current accounts?

chezzi


Joined: 12/03/2009
Posts: 162

Message Posted:
11/09/2009 01:14

I was wondering the same question, I opened an account 3 years ago, put in £100 in GBP, added another £514 (dont ask!) in May this year, closed the account last week and withrew only £580, so lost £34 in 3 years!

I think that is appaling, and no I was NOT told about charges when I opened it. Yes, it may well be in the small print in the Turkish Leaflets, but it was hard enough communicating the basics of opening an account and being in there for 3 hours!

I have since opened another in YTL, are the charges the same here?

And another thing I dont get, is why do you get those cards for each account, but whenver you add or withdraw they are never updated? I dont get statements, cant seem to set up internet banking, so how do I know how much I have in the account, without asking each time or keeping a record myself, which is difficult if we dont know how much they take in charges?

TinLondon


Joined: 20/07/2009
Posts: 171

Message Posted:
11/09/2009 01:42

Crooks! I had the very same problem with HSBC. This rip-off seems to be isolated to the Turkey-HSBCs because i don't get charge a penny in my UK HSBC acounts (and the service is much better). I had £25 in a HSBC account i opened in Girne 4 years ago and when I checked my balance this year, I was told it was nil. My whole account balanced was eaten away by charges - what happens beyond a nil balance do you go overdrawn if the account is left open or do they pay you as you no longer use up their valuable vault space?



I think the charges all go towards the workers 13th month salary which seems to be popular in cyprus.

scruff


Joined: 15/07/2008
Posts: 1070

Message Posted:
11/09/2009 01:45

I was charged about £5 per quarter for my sterling cheque account with Turk Bank. I was never charged for my TL account (no cheque book). I'm no longer with Turk bank.

I can remember when UK. banks applied bank charges. It wasn't always free banking in the UK.

Ex NWB Bank employee. Not employed in mainstream banking.

iankb


Joined: 03/09/2009
Posts: 32

Message Posted:
11/09/2009 15:31

Both my wife and I plus our neighbour use HSBC Antalya and have done for 7 years.We have multiple accounts and a fair bit invested.None of us has at anytime paid charges.It's all down to how much you have in there and applies to all the Banks.We do of course pay charges on the investments which are clearly stated and consist of Goverment Tax and a charge by the Bank for administering the investment.That I can understand and is no different to the UK services of a similar nature.No, I am not a Banker or hold shares in Banks.



Ian

ustwo


Joined: 08/12/2008
Posts: 67

Message Posted:
11/09/2009 16:26

They did the same to me in Turk Bankasi but they charged me £17 on a deposit of £ 20 only came to light when they lost my other account,if I hadn't found out about it ,would I have owed them money by?

chezzi


Joined: 12/03/2009
Posts: 162

Message Posted:
13/09/2009 21:38

Does anyone know about the other banks? are they the same?

Brinsley


Joined: 04/04/2009
Posts: 6858

Message Posted:
13/09/2009 22:08

Flavour of the month seems to be Credit West.



Richard

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
13/09/2009 22:10

ask what the charges are for a cheque book who will be amazed. Needless to say with all the charges over the years for what we still await an expliation we will not use them.Everyday we get a call for us to take thier credir card machines GOD NO when we did they chaged us more for transactions which we couldnt pass on than any other bank. Mind yo they are all getting the same now so we will all be going back to cash onlyxx