HSBC Bank Account pays 6% on your cash

HSBC has launched a new promotion on its Bank Account, which allows account holders to earn a market-leading rate on their money

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When I was at school I worked at Next in my spare time so, for me, the phrase ‘January sale’ conjures up images of people desperately rifling through racks of clothes, barging each other out of the way in order to nab that £10 top.

But it’s not just the high street retailers that are at it – even banks now launch January sales, with enticing offers on select deals. And HSBC’s sale has included the launch of a current account paying an amazing fixed rate of 6% on balances!

Banking with HSBC

As part of its January Sale, HSBC has revamped its current accounts, and now has a number of extremely attractive deals.

My favourite is the simple Bank Account. Whether you are a new or eligible existing customer, you can secure a whopping rate of 6% interest fixed on balances up to £2,500. However, in order to secure the deal, you will need to get your switching forms over to HSBC by 5pm on the 31st January.

You can also get this rate if you go with the HSBC Advance account or the HSBC Premier account.

With the Advance account not only will you get 6% on your money, but also life insurance cover up to £3,000, worldwide travel insurance, roadside breakdown assistance and exclusive deals on a rate of products and services. It will set you back £9.95 for the first 12 months, and £12.95 thereafter though. However, I’m not a big fan of packaged accounts like this, and the FSA has its own concerns too, as we highlighted in The new bank mis-selling scandal.

With the Premier Account you’ll get wealth management advice from an HSBC IFA, family banking accounts and all sorts of other personal services.

However, to qualify, you’ll need to meet any of the following criteria:

• Joint savings or investments of at least £50,000 with HSBC in the UK.
• An annual income of at least £100,000 paid into your HSBC Premier Account, as well as either: 1) a mortgage of at least £300,000 with HSBC or 2) a product taken out from the bank’s independent financial advisory service, excluding mortgage-related insurance.

In other words, it's not an account for everyone.

More from HSBC:

 
HSBC Advance Account
HSBC Online Bonus Saver Account
HSBC Credit Card

A secret truth about your credit card,

A secret truth about your credit card
By N.Faulkner

If you're not careful, this secret could cost you dear...

Your credit card may be hiding a dirty secret. Its parents.

For example, did you know that M&S Money - the provider of insurance, loans and credit cards - is wholly owned by HSBC and not Marks & Spencer?

Didn't think so.

* How good is your credit rating?

It just goes to show that favourite brands aren't necessarily controlled by your favourite organisations.

With credit cards , this matters more than you think.

There are well over 100 companies and charities that offer credit cards , but there are less than a score of card issuers. Understandably, HSBC is the card issuer for HSBC cards and for M&S Money cards. It's not surprisingly the issuer of First Direct cards, as it wholly owns that online bank too.

Yet it is also the issuer of Marbles and John Lewis cards.

Why does this matter?

Most card issuers will not let you have another of its cards, even if you buy a different brand.

You need to stop using your existing card for at least six months and in many cases longer before you will be considered for another card by the same issuer.

• The problem is that the more times you apply for credit the worse your credit record
• looks. Therefore, you don't want to apply for another card from the same issuer.

This is a major problem if you wish to transfer you existing card balance to a cheaper deal. It may be that a new 0% credit card deal will save you hundreds in a year, but you endanger your chances of getting a new card, or any other form of credit, be it loans or mortgages , if you apply for a second card from the same issuer , and get rejected.

But how do you find out which cards have the same issuer?

Buried in the small print

It can be extremely difficult to find out who the card issuer is for any given card. I went to the Tesco Financial Services website and could not find anywhere who the issuer was. It's not in the summary box, which card providers are obliged to present to us at the earliest opportunity. To find out who issues Tesco's card, you must read the terms and conditions.

* Compare credit cards

However, it's not just that it's buried in the terms and conditions, it's also that the terms and conditions are buried! It's not until you've given Tesco all your personal data by going through its online application form that you are given the opportunity to read the terms of the deal you've just applied for!

What's more, the terms and conditions don't always say who the issuer is, which is why I had even greater difficulty with Sainsbury's Finance. It was only by calling each of these companies' press offices that I was able to discover that Tesco still uses Royal Bank of Scotland and Sainsbury's now issues its own cards. (It used to be Lloyds.)

These difficulties finding the issuer are not limited to supermarket credit cards so, to help you out, here's a list of card issuers, which I've worked hard to ensure is as accurate and up-to-date as possible:

Card issuer


Card provider (i.e. the brand/the company you applied to)

Allied Irish Banks

• SAGA

American Express

• American Express
  

Bank of Ireland

• Post Office

Barclays

• Argos
• Barclaycard
  

Capital One

• Capital One

CitiGroup

• BMIBaby
• Citicard
• Egg card
  

Co-op

• Amnesty International
• Barnardo's
• Childrens Aid Societyf
• Co-op
• Greenpeace
• Help the Aged
• Labour party
• Liberal Democrat
• Medical Foundation
• Oxfam
• Ramblers Association
• Save the Children
• Smile
• Stroud & Swindon
  

Yorkshire BS

• GE Capital

ASDA

• Debenhams

Santander

• Paypal

HSBC

• First Direct
• GM Card
• HSBC
• John Lewis
• Marbles
• M&S Money
• Waitrose
  

Lloyds Banking Group

• all "lifestyle"
• Amazon
  

Bank of Scotland

• Cancer Research
• Carphone Warehouse
  

Halifax

• IF
• ipoints
• Lloyds
• More Than
• NSPCC
• Smart
  

MBNA

• BikeCard
• BMF
• BMI
• breakthough breast cancer
• british heart foundation
  

Cheshire Building Society

• Childline
• Football clubs
• homebase
• ICICI
• MBNA
  

Melton Mobray Building Society

• Norwich & Peterborough
• PADI
• Play.com
• Rugby League clubs
• Ryanair
• Ski Club GB
• Star trek
• Sonycard
• Toys R US
• Unicef
  

Virgin Money

• Virgin Atlantic
• World superbikes
  

WWF

• National Australia Group
• Yorkshire Bank
• Clydesdale Bank
  

Nationwide

• Nationwide
• RBS Group
• Mint
  

Natwest

• Lombard Direct
• First Direct
  

Royal Bank of Scotland

• Tesco

Ulster Bank

Sainsbury

• Sainsbury's card

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