HSBC has 4.80% APY on savings accounts

[IronLionZion]

http://www.us.hsbc.com

What do you make of this? :shrug: Am I missing something? They apparently want a lot of US dollars for some reason.

[catmother]

1. makes me a little nervous. i can get 4.25% on a 6-month CD at

my bank.:eyes:

[Warpy]

19. Yes, the yield curve has officially inverted

meaning some short term CDs are now paying slightly more than the long term CDs are. That generally signals a recession is coming, which begs the question of when have we ever been out of recession in the past 5 years?

I'll stick to my two McBanks for now. I prefer having a place I can go and yell if something goes wrong instead of a 1-800 number to a boiler room in India.

[Allenberg]

2. I work in their insurance tracking service.

If anybody is looking to save money on car insurance for an HSBC-financed vehicle, you can get your vehicle's comprehensive and collison (full coverage) insurance for a $20/month surcharge. Saves a good bit compared to current insurance premiums. Check in with your local lender.

[HillDem]

3. Sounds like a good rate

I read the FAQ, and it seems legit. Always read the fine print though.

[catmother]

4. i like having my money in a bank close to home.

:eyes:

[IronLionZion]

5. Yeah, it is legit.

I have the lion's share of my savings in their accounts and make out like a bandit on the interest. But it's seems strange that they are like 8 times higher than the average bank.

[CountAllVotes]

6. it is legit BUT a $10,000. minimum to get that rate

EmigrantDirect has no minimum, no fees, etc. - at 4.25% right now. I'm sticking with them being I don't have $10,000. to put into an acct. like this.

:kick:

[IronLionZion]

7. Nope, it's a $1 minimum to get that rate.

http://www.banking.us.hsbc.com/HICServlet?cmd_ViewDepositRates=&accept-language=en-us

If above link doesn't work click here

I'm not trying to sell it or doubt it's legit. I just want to know if anyone has thoughts on why they want US dollars so much.

[CountAllVotes]

8. that is odd

They were wanting $10,000 when they first appeared. I don't know what to think either. Who is behind this place I wonder? :shrug:

:kick:

[CountAllVotes]

9. also .....

They sure ask an awful lot of very PERSONAL questions. I went through the inital stages of opening an acct. at this place and gave up. Too much, too much and most of it NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS. Did you happen to notice this?

?

:kick: again

[IronLionZion]

10. Oh yes, they scrutinze you very carefully

I've been with them for years and never had a problem though. The only thing is that they won't raise my credit limit as high as I want even though I've been very responsible.

Actually, the only reason I joined them is because they have a stranglehold on western NY...and somehow manage to be in every major city in the english speaking world. They're in China and India too. I believe it's a British bank that started in the far east. HSBC = Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation I think.

[CountAllVotes]

12. no that bank, the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp. is

a very old company. In fact, my father's cousin was married to the President of this bank in San Francisco c. 1960 or so. They may have even gotten their start there as San Francisco has always had a large Chinese population historically.

From my families notes and her obituary: "Her husband, name left out, retired vice president of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank here, died in 1967."

In any event, the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank is nothing new to me. How very odd indeed eh?

:kick:

[IronLionZion]

13. it may be the same bank.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC

I know they have a big presense in California and NY. And definitely big in London and Hong Kong.

[CountAllVotes]

14. it must be ...

I just updated my post to add this part re: my cousin's death: "Her husband, name left intentionally blank, retired vice president of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank here, died in 1967 (in San Francisco).

:kick:

[LiberalGuy000]

16. yes

Try opening a business account with HSBC. They'll give you a 6-page application with all kinds of questions that would never be asked by any other bank.

Like you, I felt like they were asking too many questions and decided against it.

[IronLionZion]

11. I think they want to grow quickly and open more branches in the US

I certainly hope so. Although their may be some more sinister forces at work. Maybe the dollar will become devalued and they'll somehow make a killing on the fact that it's not their money?

When interest rates get high, it's because they want to increase their cash supply and get more investors. When it lowers, they want fewer investors or don't want the cash as much.

HSBC wants more US cash on hand, so does the US federal reserve bank. I don't want to scare anyone and I only have a minor in Econ, but something is about to happen real soon to the US dollar.

Major tinfoil hat says something to do with the Iran oil bourse. The persuasion may be forceful and violent if necessary. Both the UK and US hate the Euro.

[sendero]

15. I wonder...

.... how long do they commit to that rate? Because all kinds of banks have teaser rates that will dissapear as soon as they reach their account number goals.

I prefer CDs, banks cannot weasel out of them. Unless of course they are callable. :)

[annofark]

17. I am distrustful of HSBC...

They are always looking for that next opportunity to make a buck off of the consumer. I am particuarly turned off by their participation with tax firms in providing RAL's (refund anticipated loans). In certain instances I think HSBC enters into a predatory lender zone.

[Sammy Pepys]

18. That's high...

...but disturbingly so. I get about 3.8% on my run-of-the-mill savinmgs account, as does my wife on hers.

I don't know the ins and outs of it, but your savings account deposits provide banks with money to distribute in the form of loans. My very uneducated guess would be that as the interest rates banks can charge on loans rise, they want to attract more deposits so they can make more loans....or something like that.

[CountAllVotes]

20. VirutalBank is now at 4.6%

I have an acct. with them as well as EmigrantDirect. At present, it is not worth it for me to gain a paltry. 0.1% to switch what savings I have to them.

However, I will say that I've had an acct. with VirtualBank for a few years and they don't ask you a zillion questions and they have a minimum deposit of $100.00 to open an account.

>> Open with as little as $100
No monthly fees
Free online transfers from your existing personal checking account
Free online statements
Easy savings plans available
Nationally competitive, high yield rates
Free electronic deposits and withdrawals <<


I like them too and when I have more savings to invest, they'll likely go to them being they are offering a better rate that EmigrantDirect now is (4.5% at present). Link to them is www.virtualbank.com

As for HSBC, I don't like them as I stated before and their 4.8% interest rate doesn't draw me in for anything. Six pages of anything personal is six pages too much IMO.

:dem: :kick: