Applied for a HSBC Advance A/C

[woody77]

Apparently my credit score wasn’t high enough at 664/710 according to credit Karma!

Like what’s all this about?!?

Anybody had any luck with applying to get an account?

Alternatively, can anyone recommend any bank accounts for everyday spending that may have a switch offer

 

[resjudicata]

@woody77 When applying for a new account, be careful when they ask what overdraft facility you want. It's almost a trick question, because on the one hand they want to give you credit, but a request for credit puts the application into a different light.

Best policy is to, say, ask for a minimal overdraft of £50, then apply to extend this when the account is established for you. Or don't apply for an overdraft facility but, of course, they're useful things to have around just in case.

Source for this info: I've an excellent credit score. I applied to switch accounts a few months ago, and requested a £500 overdraft to match my current account. Was turned down. I applied again more recently (nothing else had changed), and this time just said £50 for the overdraft. The account was created.

 

[woody77]

@resjudicata I opted out of the OD facility

Thanks for the insight!

Luckily I hate debt lol

 

[resjudicata]

@woody77 Equally in the crazy world of credit checks and banking, opting out could be considered negative!

Also, makes me wonder if you don't have debt then maybe that's a bad thing because some debt = good.

 

[hannahbaker101]

@woody77 Because your credit score means absolutely tosh and you’ve just found out.

It’s your report that matters and overall history. HSBC don’t see your Credit Karma/Clearscore/MSE score, just as they don’t see your Transunion/Experian/Equifax score.

They’ve give you a generic answer, they look at your report and internally score your report against what they are looking for.

You may just not have the right age, job, location, amount of credit accounts/cards for their risk profile.

HSBC Advance and First Direct are generally the most picky of Bank accounts to open to be fair. Aside from the OD not much on the Advance account so I don’t think you’ll be missing out on much.

I think the switches all stopped now Halifax/Co-Op/Nationwide I may be wrong. I’d they have they’ll come back around in the spring they always do.

As always double check your three reports (the free way is via Karma/Clearscore/MSE Credit Club) just check there’s nothing awry just in case perhaps a missed payment, account or similiar.

I find most places don’t use transunion much, or accounts aren’t reported across all 3 credit files. And the score you see should only be used as a guidance in my eyes if somethings gone wrong or been added on your report. The score exists to sell you more products to ‘boost’ your score.

We don’t have scores like they do in the USA

 

[woody77]

@hannahbaker101 Thanks for the info, disappointed i mossed the bonus but oh well.

I just rang them and they said they’ve opened an “online saver” for me

How weird!

I’ve gotta go in brand so I’ll do that

 

[yennora]

@woody77 How is halifax giving away £175 for basically doing nothing yet hsbc have literally the most difficult conditions i have seen for £200.

 

[kingse]

@woody77 I had real issues with HSBC (mortgage rather than current account). I already had a current account with them (15+ years as my main account), but trying to get a mortgage was really frustrating: they only seemed to use Experian and I had a mismatch with how my address was stored in their systems and how it was stored in the Experian database (apparently this is a common issue with flats with building names and road numbers and flat numbers) and despite me having a current account with them, they flatly refused to accept that this was a clerical issue and not a credit score issue.

Eventually I found a mortgage provider who understood the issue and was prepared to try a few permutations of how my address was formatted to make it match up.

I closed my HSBC account not long after; terrible customer service and an abject failure to understand basic problems and just got 'computer says no' type responses from them.

Google 'MSE bank switching', there are most of the current best offers listed there and an analysis of what each one offers.

 

[woody77]

@kingse Thanks for the info

Just spent 40 mins waiting for an advisor too!

Blessing in disguise i guess

 

[hannahbaker101]

@kingse Just to add an old comment here

I have a flat and didn’t have this issue when opening account but was looking at just a credit card with them for ease - what address issue did you have? (I’ve had issues myself before with the flat being on a separate address line which didn’t match the electoral roll)

 

[kingse]

@hannahbaker101 It was: Flat 1, Building Name, 2 Road Name, Town

Experian Stored it as 1, 2, Building Name, Road Name, Town

This issue was the way systems dealt with the combination of a three part first line and how they broke it down into different address lines and if they gave priority to the building name or its number on the road.

HSBC wouldn't entertain the possibility that this is what was causing the problem and refused to try different ways of adding the address to get it to match. I found a company that would.

It was fine getting the mortgage to buy that flat, the problem was a new mortgage to buy a new place, so I wasn't trying to mortgage the troublesome address, rather I lived at it and was trying to move away from it.

 

[fender75]

@woody77 Halifax are running a switch offer at the moment

 

[woody77]

@fender75 Halifax will be my go to then

Thanks

Took 2 months with these clowns

 

[yennora]

@woody77 As soon as i saw the conditions with hsbc and first direct i said not this one. Never seen a bank so difficult as them.

 

[dann222]

@woody77 I think HSBC heavily relybon your Experian Credit Score. Credit Karma shows Transunion. I'm in the same boat

 

[aorewind]

@woody77 Is your income over the requirements? I was with HSBC for a long time then when I got a job they stuck me on an advance account if I remember rightly. But this would be around a decade ago unsure of their requirements now but I believe they're for something over x amount paid in monthly.

 

[woody77]

@aorewind Defined won’t be over the requirements might be under though lol

 

[depressednobody]

@woody77 I just received a letter from HSBC saying my score wasn't high enough for the Advance Account.
Never borrowed any money, ever. Never had loans. Had basic account with HSBC since 2016.
Called them up and they're blaming it on the credit score, advising to check. I checked on Experian right after the call, it's 999, just like it was 2 months ago when I first checked.
It says I can still apply for a Bank Account and they'll hold the offer until 16th January, although not sure if this means the £200 switch offer.