Beware of HSBC Expat

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undefinedHEADS UP: HSBC Expat holding funds hostage - my ongoing nightmare​#-heads-up-hsbc-expat-holding-funds-hostage-my-ongoing-nightmareJust wanted to share my ongoing nightmare with HSBC Expat, in case it helps anyone here considering them for offshore banking.



HSBC has been holding my money hostage for over two months now,completely frozen, ZERO access.

The worst part? I got absolutely NO explanation or even an email when it happened.

I only found out when I tried to use my account and couldn't. Typical bankster behavior!



I've lost count of how many times I've contacted their so-called "support" (definitely 7+ calls/emails).

Eventually, some compliance drone reached out, asking for a stack of documents and information.

I sent everything they asked for, waited, then they came back asking for even MORE.

This cycle repeated multiple times,each time with long delays before they'd even bother to reply.



As of today, my funds are STILL frozen, despite providing everything requested.

No timeline, no real updates, just generic responses and more waiting.

Absolutely OUTRAGEOUS!



From what I've read here and elsewhere on OCT, it seems I'm not alone,random account freezes, lack of communication, and endless bureaucracy are all too common with HSBC Expat.

If you rely on your bank for anything important, I'd SERIOUSLY consider looking elsewhere.



Anyone else been through this HSBC compliance nightmare recently?

What offshore banks are actually respecting their clients these days?
 
EU banks specially UK based banks are horrible



But anyways most banks around the world are doing almost the same



Its international agreement between countries central banks
 
There charging more now I think from this month for people with a lower balance it’s gone up by 25k
 
Generally I would say do as much noise as you can, email their PR email, tag them on Twitter on every post they write, post on Reddit, post on their Facebook page.

The more noise you make, the sooner somebody will realise it's better for them to give you your money back rather than you keep spreading negativity on their social media.

It worked for me with some EMIs in the past.
 
Hi @FreedomSearcher ,



couple of our clients in the past had exactly the same issue - not even with HSBC Expat in Jersey but all across the HSKC Jurisdictions they had an account for example in Hong Kong as well.



Long back and forth with bulls**t compliance questions followed from silence again - while it's in Hong Kong more complicated in Jersey HSBC Expat is located - it's not.



Contact directly the Ombudsman in Jersey for a fast resolving of the situation.



https://www.gov.je/StayingSafe/Cons...mbudsman/pages/complaintfinancialservice.aspx
 
Fred said:






Hi @FreedomSearcher ,



couple of our clients in the past had exactly the same issue - not even with HSBC Expat in Jersey but all across the HSKC Jurisdictions they had an account for example in Hong Kong as well.



Long back and forth with bulls**t compliance questions followed from silence again - while it's in Hong Kong more complicated in Jersey HSBC Expat is located - it's not.



Contact directly the Ombudsman in Jersey for a fast resolving of the situation.



https://www.gov.je/StayingSafe/Cons...mbudsman/pages/complaintfinancialservice.aspx

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for your valuable response!

I'll try this.
 
FreedomSearcher said:






Thanks a lot for your valuable response!

I'll try this.

Click to expand...

Please report back here once it's solved - I'm interested to see the turnaround time.
 
FreedomSearcher said:






HEADS UP: HSBC Expat holding funds hostage - my ongoing nightmare​Just wanted to share my ongoing nightmare with HSBC Expat, in case it helps anyone here considering them for offshore banking.



HSBC has been holding my money hostage for over two months now,completely frozen, ZERO access.

The worst part? I got absolutely NO explanation or even an email when it happened.

I only found out when I tried to use my account and couldn't. Typical bankster behavior!



I've lost count of how many times I've contacted their so-called "support" (definitely 7+ calls/emails).

Eventually, some compliance drone reached out, asking for a stack of documents and information.

I sent everything they asked for, waited, then they came back asking for even MORE.

This cycle repeated multiple times,each time with long delays before they'd even bother to reply.



As of today, my funds are STILL frozen, despite providing everything requested.

No timeline, no real updates, just generic responses and more waiting.

Absolutely OUTRAGEOUS!



From what I've read here and elsewhere on OCT, it seems I'm not alone,random account freezes, lack of communication, and endless bureaucracy are all too common with HSBC Expat.

If you rely on your bank for anything important, I'd SERIOUSLY consider looking elsewhere.



Anyone else been through this HSBC compliance nightmare recently?

What offshore banks are actually respecting their clients these days?

Click to expand...

What business are you into since they choose to freeze your account like this ?
 
pesto said:






What business are you into since they choose to freeze your account like this ?

Click to expand...

This could also have been done by government request, no?
 
HSBC Expat is complete crap. I closed my account with them, mainly because of the worse banking app ever, zero support, total incompetence.

I'd say, open a case with the financial Ombudsman (ci-fo[dot]org/). They probably won't get you anywhere but HSBC will have to reply to them and that might wake them up.
 
I've used them for about 2 years and no issues at all, but i'm really only sending myself money there from my other accounts.
 
cionide said:






I've used them for about 2 years and no issues at all, but i'm really only sending myself money there from my other accounts.

Click to expand...

Do you send from personal or corporate account in HSBC to your self ?
 
lavel said:






Do you send from personal or corporate account in HSBC to your self ?

Click to expand...

Mostly LLC account on Mercury/RelayFi/Wise to a personal Wise account to my HSBC account.
 
Why said:






HSBC Expat is complete crap. I closed my account with them, mainly because of the worse banking app ever, zero support, total incompetence.

I'd say, open a case with the financial Ombudsman (ci-fo[dot]org/). They probably won't get you anywhere but HSBC will have to reply to them and that might wake them up.

Click to expand...

In my opinion HSBC has the best app in all industry.
 
Clank said:






In my opinion HSBC has the best app in all industry.

Click to expand...

It depends on what you compare it to... if I look at what most banks in Poland have as far as banking apps, they are 10 years ahead of HSBC. I can't even find my IBAN number in the HSBC Expat app, I have to login to the website.
 
cionide said:






Mostly LLC account on Mercury/RelayFi/Wise to a personal Wise account to my HSBC account.

Click to expand...

That’s also what I’ve had the best experience with, to be honest.



As soon as you start making large or frequent transfers from a personal EMI or bank account, you tend to trigger their KYC/DD filters and get flagged for review for one reason or another.
 
lavel said:






That’s also what I’ve had the best experience with, to be honest.



As soon as you start making large or frequent transfers from a personal EMI or bank account, you tend to trigger their KYC/DD filters and get flagged for review for one reason or another.

Click to expand...

I would imagine i might hit some flags if I used a sketchier EMI - Wise and Revolut are pretty mainstream and reputable as far as EMIs go. I mostly use HSBC as a safe "storage" so to speak. Also depends I guess on where you are from, the transfer sizes etc. The most I ever did in one transfer was around 50k euro, and many transfers around 20k euro - I've never been asked for SOF or anything.
 
FreedomSearcher said:






Have you experienced this?



How could it be acceptable to hold innocent people's money for 6 months?

Click to expand...

its normal with banking. Luckily its only 6 months.

I know of a country which is very famous for banking and many folks here have accounts in (including me) where money can be held for 10 years counting or whose banks apply other sneaky methods to screw you (more or less legally).
 
JackAlabama said:






its normal with banking. Luckily its only 6 months.

I know of a country which is very famous for banking and many folks here have accounts in (including me) where money can be held for 10 years counting or whose banks apply other sneaky methods to screw you (more or less legally).

Click to expand...

This would never fly in West Europe. Must be an offshore center where consumer protection law is pretty much inexistant.
 
JackAlabama said:






its normal with banking. Luckily its only 6 months.

I know of a country which is very famous for banking and many folks here have accounts in (including me) where money can be held for 10 years counting or whose banks apply other sneaky methods to screw you (more or less legally).

Click to expand...

What country is that? Dubai ?
 
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