HSBC Fail

Has anyone else been affected by HSBC in America's massive shift this spring? They dumped my account onto the American bank First Niagara.  This sudden change is particularly upsetting for me because I have happily been using HSBC's international bank to bank digital transfer system, which allowed clients with UK and US accounts to view both accounts in the same screen and make instant electronic transfers for the small fee of £5 per transaction, and now this tool on which I relied very heavily upon for the last year and a half has been taken away.

I'm at a loss for how to pay my US bills now.  After speaking with a First Niagara representative, I have learned that they do no such easy money transfers, and that I if I want to transfer money from my UK bank account to this new First Niagara account, I will need to post a physical print form to an address in New York, New York with instructions to wire the funds at the cost of $30.

What I'd really like to like to do is change banks (I've never been a massive fan of HSBC in the first place), but I can't think of a single other bank that supplies checking accounts in the UK and in the US.  Barclays offers products to businesses but not individuals in the US, and ING offers checking in the US but only savings accounts in the UK. 

Does anyone have advice, suggestions or similar experiences? 

Check citi. They did both as of several years ago. Any idea why hsbc changed you?

Hi,

Is there any specific requirement to have UK and USA separate bank accounts with the same organisation?

If you are looking for a easy way to transfer money from the UK to a US bank account and vice versa, then although I'm not a great fan, I've started using PayPal as they allow free transfers. Have a look at XE.com as that is another option mentioned by a few other UKY members.

I have a UK account with HSBC, linked to my Paypal account. I can transfer money for free from HSBC to Paypal. From there, I can transfer to one of my US checking accounts (Chase, BoA & Wells Fargo) which I've set up as bank accounts too. So, no charges for international transfers

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

What I'd really like to like to do is change banks (I've never been a massive fan of HSBC in the first place), but I can't think of a single other bank that supplies checking accounts in the UK and in the US.

The "Royal Bank of Scotland" otherwise known as RBS operates in both countries and allows money transfers between accounts.