HSBC Premier

[jinkster]

Does anyone use HSBC Premier? I've been looking at moving to HSBC for free global view and transfers however the savings required here in Qatar to qualify are extremely high.

The UK want to see £100k salary going in, my predicament here is £100k is equivalent to £5500 net going through the bank but as i don't work in the UK or pay UK tax they actually want to see £8333 (£100k divide by 12months). Totally ludicrous if you ask me.

Is there anyway around this?

[Kudos]

Get a better job?

[stuckmojo]

Hi Jinkster,

I'll attempt to offer a more constructive answer than the idiotic "get a better job" one above (but of course, do get a better job if you can )

I think that HSBC premier might be easier to get outside of the UK - IE if you bank with them in the UAE or ME in general, they might be a bit more lenient with the requirement for accessing the Premier services.

I'm looking into it myself and will share my experience as it happens later in the year as I move to the UAE>

[Psychobert]

I think the rules in UAE are a little more flexible, but I was able to open a Premier account on the basis of having the same with First Direct in the UK, (owned by HSBC). I can't remember what the requirements for that were, but I had banked with them for years anyway. That said, it was a complete pain in the proverbial trying to actually open the account here and in the end I gave up and opened an account with Lloyds, (took about 48 hours after a couple of months of messing around with HSBC). Lloyds were immediately bought by HSBC and I was migrated over. That was considerably more rapid and straightforward than trying to do anything in the UK with HSBC and hope that UAE found the forms I completed, recognised them once they had etc etc..

Once I'd got that and the offshore account sorted, everything works pretty well. If I do need to get to the bank in person I can speak to people rapidly at the branch on Al Wasl and generally everything is ok. I'm not keen on the need to use one of those little calculator things as I sometimes need to access banking online when travelling, but other than that no complaints so far..

[jinkster]

Thanks for all the help. The minimum to open in France is €4500 euros per month. I'm going to open a gbp account in France, transfer from Qatar to France and then to UK. Qualify for Premier and open UK and Qatar accounts and close my others. Job done!

Hopefully it should make life easier when we decide to buy a bigger house over the next 12 months and then HSBC can see my income. Transfer should be easier and cheaper too.

[FlexRay]

I have HSBC Premier, Global View & Global transfers are really useful, even sometimes the rate isn't up to scratch the fact its instant helps.

Seems easier to get it in UAE, i qualify because i have over the minimum salary transfer per month, with no need for savings or mortgages.

Edited by FlexRay on Sunday 26th April 00:45

[mikial]

I'm an HSBC premier user, global view and global transfer are very useful . My income is generated in the UK and is a simple exercise for me to transfer, without paying a fee , the funds I need here in the Philippines.
I was a Midland bank customer back in the sixties and remained so when HSBC made the takeover.

[h_____]

Before we moved out here, we inquired at HSBC and like you say, you need a lot of capital with them, or a high salary going in. We didnt do it. The guys in the UK advised approach your local HSBC and see what they can set up. This we did, and they didnt question the amount a month. I dont know what the limit is in Abu Dhabi, but it was a lot lower than UK. Try approaching them, and saying you need to do a lot of FX over the year, see what they say.

[Fats25]

My company have an arrangement with HSBC, and is who they recommend everyone opens an account with when they arrive. Fortunately I also bank with HSBC in the UK. So when they set me up here in UAE they gave me a Premier account, because that is what I had in the UK. At least that is what they thought I had in UK! I didn't have Premier in the UK, I used to, but had given it up years ago when they wanted to charge for it!

However I believe after 12 months that the UAE Premier account will want to start charging for using it, so I may have to either downgrade, or move banks. As another poster said Global Transfer is really handy for quick transfers, but if i'm honest, the rate is generally pretty poor. So if doing large transfers, I will be looking into alternative methods.

[jinkster]

I'm sending around £5-£5.5k back per month. With that sum of money would it be worth looking into some forex company to transfer the funds?

[Fats25]

jinkster said:

I'm sending around £5-£5.5k back per month. With that sum of money would it be worth looking into some forex company to transfer the funds?

I don't know but I will watch this thread with interest as I want to get some money out of here.

[Harris_I]

jinkster said:

I'm sending around £5-£5.5k back per month. With that sum of money would it be worth looking into some forex company to transfer the funds?

Correct. In fact never ever use a bank, even if you are a preferred or Premier customer. For any amount. It's sickening how much profit they build into each FX trade.

Try the following: First Rate FX, HiFX, GCEN. Personally I tend to find First Rate FX offer the best rates on AED/GBP.

[FlexRay]

jinkster said:

I'm sending around £5-£5.5k back per month. With that sum of money would it be worth looking into some forex company to transfer the funds?

I use GCEN for anything above £3000, just a personal way of working.

it takes like 5/7 days if your not in a rush you get a better deal, where as Global transfers is instant so your paying for that service with their rates!

Craig