I am currently in the US and "The worlds local bank" have decided lastnight that after nearly 4 weeks here me paying for dinner was an "unusual transaction" and cancelled not one but all of my HSBC cards.
While phoning them on their 24 hour banking line I was told after that it was closed by a electronic message.
This morning I discover because i dont pay for my banking that i no longer have access to the 24 hour lines and that i should have informed them i was leaving the country. When i asked why they had only just cut me off after 4 weeks and over 100 transactions they didnt have an answer.
All in all ive pretty much had it with HSBC not being able to pay for dinner was embarassing (and could have been allot worse except form my emergancy amex) and I had a similar issue with them 5-6 years ago in while i was in vietnam.
Being spoken to like im a second class customer because i dont pay them to look after my money has pushed me over the line, after around 25 years with them man and boy im leaving as soon as I get back to the UK and can sort out setting up new accounts.
Which bank would travellers/expats recomend?
Im going to be spending allot of time in the US and Korea for the next year so its going to matter more and more.
Things that are going to matter more than current account intrest rates are charges and access abliity.
From what i understand (i havent even been yet) Korea is still a cash culture so im going to want good ATM access with low charges.
While phoning them on their 24 hour banking line I was told after that it was closed by a electronic message.
This morning I discover because i dont pay for my banking that i no longer have access to the 24 hour lines and that i should have informed them i was leaving the country. When i asked why they had only just cut me off after 4 weeks and over 100 transactions they didnt have an answer.
All in all ive pretty much had it with HSBC not being able to pay for dinner was embarassing (and could have been allot worse except form my emergancy amex) and I had a similar issue with them 5-6 years ago in while i was in vietnam.
Being spoken to like im a second class customer because i dont pay them to look after my money has pushed me over the line, after around 25 years with them man and boy im leaving as soon as I get back to the UK and can sort out setting up new accounts.
Which bank would travellers/expats recomend?
Im going to be spending allot of time in the US and Korea for the next year so its going to matter more and more.
Things that are going to matter more than current account intrest rates are charges and access abliity.
From what i understand (i havent even been yet) Korea is still a cash culture so im going to want good ATM access with low charges.
