is HSBC any good

[Nan]

I am looking at taking 5 properties $1 mill mortgage from BNZ. My last property comes off fixed interest next week. They offered me 6.5 % for 5 years. Good to see they try so hard to keep existing customers. They later offered 5.99 when i said i could get that from Westpac.

I see now that HSBC are offering 4.99% for 3 years which sounds attractive. I dont know anything about them though and they dont have many branches. Are they good to work with. Saving 1% on over $1 mill is significant even if i do have to pay conveyance fees.

Any thoughts

Nan

[SwissKiwi]

I've heard they aren't particularly investor friendly.

Just what I've heard.

[TheLiberalLeft]

I use them for banking only (not investing) and they are excellent for my purposes - multi-currency, shifting funds around the world quickly and cost-free as well as providing clean, quality prole-free locations in which to discuss issues with personal bankers.

[BigRedDog]

Couple of threads about them somewhere on PT that makes for good reading.

[skid]

They are customer unfriendly[once you are not a premier customer]
They never negotiate on anything.
And worst still.they are a large, corrupt ,Merchant bank.
They have recently been done for money laundering for the Mexican drug cartel[Google it]
Those are the sort of banking organizations that created the mess we are in economically.
I wouldnt touch them--See thread

[Learning]

Hay Nan, I've found that, in my 12 years of using them in my bank bidding wars, BNZ never make the best offer first. They do drag their feet a bit slower than most when it come to negotiations but if you just keep going back to them with something lower and better they'll usually come through and match or come close to it. I'm sure this method would have lost them a lot of business over the years but I actually like the BNZ, I find them more welcoming and friendly than most. If I'm ever waiting for more than a few minutes for a meeting they'll bring me a coffee or a voucher for the cafe next door.

[TheLiberalLeft]

"They are customer unfriendly[once you are not a premier customer]"

You say that like it's a bad thing! It allows them to focus on who really matters, don't you know.

They are large, but since when is that a crime? Sounds tall-poppy to me. I'd rather my money was in a bank that makes massive profits, not one that sits on losses each year.

They most certainly are NOT one of the banks that created the mess we're in. That would be the banks who made worst losses on sub-prime. You know not of what you speak, skid.

[Scave]

I believe with that level of debt, you would be one of their Premier Customers and therefore have a "relationship manager". Friends of mine are with HSBC and rave about them. Their relationship manager takes care of any issues or new applications. They also meet regularly for strategic planning. Granted, they have very few branches but I believe they have an agreement with one of the other banks (or post shops?). One thing to note however, is there online facilities are very average. As you say, 1% interest savings is significant on $1M lending and therefore they are definitly worth considering.

[TheLiberalLeft]

I disagree, Scave. Which other banks allow you, online, to instantly transfer money between accounts in different currencies and countries for free?

[Scave]

I disagree, Scave. Which other banks allow you, online, to instantly transfer money between accounts in different currencies and countries for free?

Perhaps I should have worded that differently as I'm not entirely sure what you can and can't do online with HSBC. I refer more so to their web-interface and smart phone integration. When I met with one of their wealth managers, even they conceeded that their online usability was not up to the same level as my current bank - ASB.

[Perry]

Not an inspiring thread topic, but the
"other thread" referred to on PT is here:
HSBC my vote for New Zealands worst bank

[brendan]

I disagree, Scave. Which other banks allow you, online, to instantly transfer money between accounts in different currencies and countries for free?

HSBC are great. What other banks will help you launder your illegal drug proceeds, or transfer your Iranian money? And don't worry, as HSBC one of the world’s largest banks, they have immunity from criminal charges because that could destabilize the global financial system.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/12/...ey-laundering/

[TheLiberalLeft]

Exactly, brendan. Who cares about silly laundering charges? Not the Americans, I can tell you that.

[LeanneS]

I don't know what they are like in NZ but in the UK they are one of the best consumer banks to deal with. Especially if you have a 1M mortgage, I'd expect.

As banks go I don't think they've been overly involved in the shenanigans that got us into this mess, as the Asian mindset means they are a bit more risk averse and long term thinking - but I could easily be proved wrong.

[brendan]

I don't know what they are like in NZ but in the UK they are one of the best consumer banks to deal with. Especially if you have a 1M mortgage, I'd expect.

As banks go I don't think they've been overly involved in the shenanigans that got us into this mess, as the Asian mindset means they are a bit more risk averse and long term thinking - but I could easily be proved wrong.

I'd suggest that they have in fact been overly involved in the shenanigans that got us into this mess, as the British mindset (they are a British bank based in London) means they are a bit more risk inclined and short term thinking.

The years of aggressive lending that followed the doomed acquisition put HSBC down as one of the largest subprime lenders as the U.S. housing market crashed. The bubble bursting trapped the company with tens of billions in debt.

The scale of that U.S. crisis forced HSBC to shut its U.S. consumer business, and it has been attempting to bounce back from its considerable failures in that market ever since.

HSBC announced on Tuesday that it had agreed to a record $1.92 billion settlement with authorities. The bank, which is based in Britain, faces accusations that it transferred billions of dollars for nations like Iran and enabled Mexican drug cartels to move money illegally through its American subsidiaries.