I’ll come out and say it up-front, I hate HSBC.
They have been our corporate bankers for the last 2 years now. My loathing is driven by their inability to treat us like a customer. As a brand research agency we conduct much of our work outside the UK.
This means regularly having to get Dollars, Euros, Yen and Remnimbi. It also means regularly having to pay suppliers in other countries.
We have recently moved all our foreign currency transactions out of HSBC and into a company called Caxton FX, this is why:
the HSBC website doesn’t allow us to see what transactions have gone in and out of our Euro account (it only shows the balance)
– Caxton have a simple on-line dashboard that shows you your balance and recent transactions
– Caxton even ring you up when funds arrive in your account!
HSBC require any foreign currency transaction over about £3,000 to be done in person in a branch (you can’t use the phone or web)
– Caxton let you do anything up to I think £100k over the web, they also let you email instructions and ring them
After 2 years someone from HSBC rang to say that we were big enough to warrant a relationship manager. They said they be in touch to arrange a meeting to get to know us better. They never rang. Someone else at HSBC rang to ‘see how things were going’, having been blasted by me they said they’d get ‘our’ relationship manager to ring. They never did
– Caxton give every customer a relationship manager automatically (they even have a direct line and email…and they respond!)
No-one at HSBC seems to be empowered to solve problems – it is always handed on to someone in a processing centre somewhere
– the person you speak to at Caxton is generally the person who can resolve any problem you have.
HSBC give REALLY uncompetitive FX spreads and charge £30 per transaction
– Caxton make no charge and the rates they quote are light years better than high street banks
…oh and Caxton also sent me a bottle of wine at Christmas. We’re not a massive client of theirs and it wasn’t a vintage Bordeaux, but it’s the first time ANY financial institution has treated me like a valued customer rather than a commodity.
Come on guys, it isn’t rocket science – its called the Financial SERVICE Industry for a reason
(…and in case you’re wondering Caxton FX didn’t put me up to this)
nickvolante 
You’re not alone Nick. This is the second blog post I’ve read complaining about HSBC, in as many weeks. Here’s what I blogged about them more than a year ago, when they let me down: http://clearmessage.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/big-fat-fail-from-hsbc/
My favorite is when I tried to withdraw money in Brazil from their machine using their card: “Sorry, this card is not recognised on our network. Have a nice day!”
Oh why oh why didn’t I remember this post when we opened our (yes, you’ve guessed it) HSBC business account…. Possibly the most inefficient process I have ever experienced.