HSBC Expat accounts

[rum]

Hi,

I was wondering what the benefits are in the expat accounts that HSBC are offering.

Also, does anyone know how the referral scheme for new customers works?

Thanks

[comeocome]

Sorry for hijacking the post, I wonder if anyone has used HSBC expat for direct debit in the UK? More specifically as monthly autopay credit card

[dannyhk]

Yes, have been doing this for several years. One of your accounts will have a UK sort code and you can use that to set up the autopay.

[points_worrier]

Expat is good for me because you can receive money and send via swift for free. You can also use the USD debit card to withdraw cash in USD without charges. This makes it significantly better than the fintech options in my view, and it’s a reputable bank that although makes mistakes, is quick to rectify them.
Another benefit is if you have a HSBC currency account in the UK you can transfer expat funds to this and withdraw (or deposit) foreign notes over the counter.

[rum]

points_worrier wrote:

Expat is good for me because you can receive money and send via swift for free. You can also use the USD debit card to withdraw cash in USD without charges. This makes it significantly better than the fintech options in my view, and it’s a reputable bank that although makes mistakes, is quick to rectify them.
Another benefit is if you have a HSBC currency account in the UK you can transfer expat funds to this and withdraw (or deposit) foreign notes over the counter.

Thanks for this.
Keen to understand how I can deposit foreign currency over the counter. Would I be able to do deposit euros in cash at a UK branch for example?
Also, are you able to refer me for an account? You should be able to get something out of it yourself.

[alma]

Hey,

I was wondering what the benefits are in the expat accounts that HSBC are offering.

Personally, I value the family Crisis24 subscription a lot that you get with Expat. As we travel a lot, it’s really quite handy to get notifications of the (these days common) strikes and cancellations, as well as, naturally of any danger or crime.

Keen to understand how I can deposit foreign currency over the counter. Would I be able to do deposit euros in cash at a UK branch for example?

Of this I am not sure. I have definitely deposited Euros in cash at a UK branch before, but I also have their UK-based services and not sure if those are required for this or not.

Also, does anyone know how the referral scheme for new customers works? [..] Also, are you able to refer me for an account? You should be able to get something out of it yourself.

The referral works through their “share the experience” service. And sure, I can refer you, just not sure if posting a link/code here is against the HFP rules.

[Rob]

Fine to refer for this.

[anuj]

alma wrote:

Hey,

I was wondering what the benefits are in the expat accounts that HSBC are offering.

Personally, I value the family Crisis24 subscription a lot that you get with Expat. As we travel a lot, it’s really quite handy to get notifications of the (these days common) strikes and cancellations, as well as, naturally of any danger or crime.

Keen to understand how I can deposit foreign currency over the counter. Would I be able to do deposit euros in cash at a UK branch for example?

Of this I am not sure. I have definitely deposited Euros in cash at a UK branch before, but I also have their UK-based services and not sure if those are required for this or not.

Also, does anyone know how the referral scheme for new customers works? [..] Also, are you able to refer me for an account? You should be able to get something out of it yourself.

The referral works through their “share the experience” service. And sure, I can refer you, just not sure if posting a link/code here is against the HFP rules.

Can I have a referral ?
Thanks

[John]

Apparently Barclays foreign currency accounts let you deposit foreign cash over the counter, and withdraw if you order in advance (big branches may have euros available if you don’t notify them)

I was told that HSBC UK won’t take foreign cash any more – but HSBC in other countries still does. HSBC UK closed my account when I made a £2000 payment by debit card to amex, that was before I became premier in other countries.

[PIL]

anuj wrote:

alma wrote:

Hey,

I was wondering what the benefits are in the expat accounts that HSBC are offering.

Personally, I value the family Crisis24 subscription a lot that you get with Expat. As we travel a lot, it’s really quite handy to get notifications of the (these days common) strikes and cancellations, as well as, naturally of any danger or crime.

Keen to understand how I can deposit foreign currency over the counter. Would I be able to do deposit euros in cash at a UK branch for example?

Of this I am not sure. I have definitely deposited Euros in cash at a UK branch before, but I also have their UK-based services and not sure if those are required for this or not.

Also, does anyone know how the referral scheme for new customers works? [..] Also, are you able to refer me for an account? You should be able to get something out of it yourself.

The referral works through their “share the experience” service. And sure, I can refer you, just not sure if posting a link/code here is against the HFP rules.

Can I have a referral ?
Thanks

Hi Anuj, happy to refer you. Please let me know your email to send you one

[anuj]

PIL wrote:

anuj wrote:

alma wrote:

Hey,

I was wondering what the benefits are in the expat accounts that HSBC are offering.

Personally, I value the family Crisis24 subscription a lot that you get with Expat. As we travel a lot, it’s really quite handy to get notifications of the (these days common) strikes and cancellations, as well as, naturally of any danger or crime.

Keen to understand how I can deposit foreign currency over the counter. Would I be able to do deposit euros in cash at a UK branch for example?

Of this I am not sure. I have definitely deposited Euros in cash at a UK branch before, but I also have their UK-based services and not sure if those are required for this or not.

Also, does anyone know how the referral scheme for new customers works? [..] Also, are you able to refer me for an account? You should be able to get something out of it yourself.

The referral works through their “share the experience” service. And sure, I can refer you, just not sure if posting a link/code here is against the HFP rules.

Can I have a referral ?
Thanks

Hi Anuj, happy to refer you. Please let me know your email to send you one

Hi, I’ll link a iCloud hidden email so I don’t get showered in spam by crawler bots: onboard07smithy@icloud.com
Thanks

[points_worrier]

John wrote:

Apparently Barclays foreign currency accounts let you deposit foreign cash over the counter, and withdraw if you order in advance (big branches may have euros available if you don’t notify them)

I was told that HSBC UK won’t take foreign cash any more – but HSBC in other countries still does. HSBC UK closed my account when I made a £2000 payment by debit card to amex, that was before I became premier in other countries.

HSBC do allow you to pay and take cash out in foreign currency in their UK foreign currency account. I have done this in the last month, and it still says so on the website. You can link this via global payments to your HSBC expat account.
So you have an expat account that you can (indirectly) pay cash in, take cash out, and have a debit card for all without exchanging any money. If you want to exchange money, HSBC Global Money does this with relatively small (0.25-0.45%) margin in hours.
This really only works perfectly for USD, as other expat accounts dont have a debit card in that currency.
Do note, by having an expat account, you get access to full expat facilities as well. They are currently offering a 1y GBP bond for up to 5.55%.

[comeocome]

Hopefully can chip in:
No you cannot deposit any cash into Expat account directly at a HSBC UK branch, if you don’t have a HSBC UK account. Tried it before. Because I have been told that they are “two different banks” (at least legally – UK vs Jersey). You can deposit cash, including foreign currency, at least as of Feb 2023, into HSBC UK, and then transfer it into your HSBC Expat account.
Don’t see much benefits of crisis24 personally, they just told me about a strike at the Indian embassy in London today.
The USD debit card sounds good if you have USD income. I do not use HSBC Expat for currency conversion, with or without global money. HSBC Expat regularly marks up the exchange rate by 200bps, in the week and in the weekend. That’s like a regular credit card foreign transaction fee. I will just use Wise, which usually is 50bps conversion margin. HSBC UK Global Money used to be 20bps fees, but recently it’s become 40bps. No idea why HSBC UK GM has different FX fee structure vs HSBC EXPAT GM. I am extra careful on fees because I travel a lot and also that’s how financials make money. Eg visa and MasterCard make most of their money from travel ie foreign transaction fees.

[rum]

I’ve gradually come to the conclusion that Expat is just not worth it given their poor FX fees. For just transferring £1 from my UK account to Expat in EUR, I lost something like 4p on the market exchange rate of that day. I’d get a much better rate when using Starling or Revolut.

I’ve already closed both GM accounts in Uk and Expat territories for the same reason. I don’t need to have so many different cards when Starling, Revolut and Chase can give me better rates abroad.

I suppose Expat might be worth more to anyone earning/spending USD.

[SteveJ]

The simplicity of transferring USD income into GBP is the main reason, but I concur with others, have found you’re paying for the convenience as their rates are not as good as Wise.

[points_worrier]

SteveJ wrote:

The simplicity of transferring USD income into GBP is the main reason, but I concur with others, have found you’re paying for the convenience as their rates are not as good as Wise.

Please stop spreading these falsehoods.

A quick check just now:
Wise: 100GBP = 126.21USD, or USD 123.31 if you are sending that money to a USD account outside Wise (needing swift)
HSBC Expat (with Global money): 100GBP = 126.56 USD, including the cost of transfer to any SWIFT account
[Revolut: 100 GBP = USD 126.97]

Expat is almost 0.3% better than Wise. Or 2.6% better if you are sending that money via swift.

[duggie1982]

So if i go to UK HSBC branch and deposit $500 USD to my GM account will it deposit into my USD pot for me to then exchange to GBP at (almost) market rate? If so its a good idea to get rid of my excess holiday currency

[SteveJ]

points_worrier wrote:

SteveJ wrote:

The simplicity of transferring USD income into GBP is the main reason, but I concur with others, have found you’re paying for the convenience as their rates are not as good as Wise.

Please stop spreading these falsehoods.

A quick check just now:
Wise: 100GBP = 126.21USD, or USD 123.31 if you are sending that money to a USD account outside Wise (needing swift)
HSBC Expat (with Global money): 100GBP = 126.56 USD, including the cost of transfer to any SWIFT account
[Revolut: 100 GBP = USD 126.97]

Expat is almost 0.3% better than Wise. Or 2.6% better if you are sending that money via swift.

Not my experience at all, I’m usually doing the opposite of what you’ve outlined, I.e. USD to GBP, I wonder if the comparison differs if done that way around? Certainly has done for me in the recent past, aligned with what @comeocome notes.