Terrible experience in dealing with HSBC. Customer contact centre was appalling and provided inaccurate and inconsistent advice. Told to visit branch to confirm identity only for branch staff to advise I was declined for student account, with no sensible or coherent reason given. As with many 18 year old's I do not have much of a credit history so to decline on this basis does not make sense. Never had any borrowing, overdraft or other debt or defaults. Complaint raised but not adequately dealt with. Avoid this account and provider

I set up this account in branch, and the lady was very helpful and it was easy to set up. I had an appointment made that was easy for me to attend. I was quickly sent my new bank card and pin and the online banking was easy to set up, although you do have to wait for a secure key to come in the post if you don't have the tech for the app, to finish setting up online banking. I feel that it would be easy to go in and ask questions if i had problems. Although i was told that it was hard to replace a card if lost. I have only just got this account and not started to use it yet. But the set up was easy in person. Although you do have to apply for a larger overdraft after 3 months, but i don't need this facility

The experience with HSBC was absolutely terrible! I am an international student and I was waiting more than two month to hear that my application was declined! During that they asked me a few times to provide an additional information which incurred some transaction costs. To add more, their customer service is absolutely awful. Never have I had such a terrible experience. Absolutely disappointed.

I could write pages stating the trouble trying to open a student account . Like one of the other reviewers could not log onto account , kept stating wrong date of birth Although they had passport , driving license and multiple other forms of ID. No welcoming email after 4 week wait. Continuous phone calls , never received a secure key , they said they sent 2nd Secure key out, still waiting. Think the £60 amazon voucher is just a line to get you hooked. They said they had corrected the date of birth but when I went online it Said yet again .. Date of birth or email don't match. Amazon voucher offer ends 31/10/14 , not a hope of it being sorted by then. Just been hassle , will open account elsewhere.

I decided to stick with HSBC for student finance after holding a current account with them for years as well as the seemingly good incentives of the large overdraft of £3000 and the £60 Amazon gift card. I set up my account in branch and after enquiring about the overdraft I was told the maximum this would be was £750 however this could increase over the years (definitely not the £3000 their adverts promise). In the following week I received my new cards in the post however still no sign of my Welcome Email with the £60 gift card. A week after the account had been set up I enquired in branch and they told me "they couldn't speed up the email process" and I'd have to "wait it out" which was completely unhelpful. Two weeks later and I had still received nothing so I went back into branch and was told as long as my account had been set up for a week I could go online and register myself to get Student Exclusives - something I hadn't been told in branch a few weeks ago! When trying to register I was always met with an error message telling me that my date of birth and email address didn't match anything on their system so tried to ring HSBC directly. They changed my email address from capitals to lower case which again was extremely unhelpful as I could have done it myself and still didn't solve the problem. I was told to contact the Student Exclusives company individually as HSBC were not affiliated with them directly. After contacting them, I got a reply telling me to do all the things I had already done and notified them that I had done therefore had yet another pointless response. At this point it was two days before I left for university and there was no chance of me receiving my gift card, purchasing essential items for my course, and having them delivered in time. I am deeply disappointed with HSBC in terms of their student accounts and I recommend not being drawn in by their incentives as it turns out they are virtually non-existent.

After applying on line for a student account I waited for the confirmation letter/email requesting i take my ID and student offer in to my local branch. After 10 days this still had not been received so I went to local branch anyway who said a letter should have gone out as my details were on their system. I continued to finish opening the account in branch. I was told I would receive debit card, cheque book account opening info within 5 working days. Over two weeks later, still waiting for ANYTHING to arrive. Rang their very unhelpful helpline and after being grilled for 25 minutes was told that the boxes saying debit card and cheque book not required had been ticked on the application form. Needless to say they had not been ticked by me, only thing I did in branch was sign my name twice! They said it must have been a mistake by the girl in branch and they would order them now but I would have to go to the branch to collect them and could not have them by post! I am closing the account and going to Santander! Probably wont be much better but wont stay with HSBC on principle. Appalling service and totally disinterested in sorting out their error.

I have to disagree with the majority of reviews here. I first opened (or rather, my father did on my behalf) my current account with HSBC roughly 10/11 years ago, so naturally when I was accepted into university I went to them first. I went into branch to speak to them and see what they would offer, and I have to say the woman I spoke to was really nice to me. She explained everything in simple terms, gave me tips on how to avoid charges, joked with me about university life etc.; it was actually a pleasant experience. I was given a £500 overdraft & £500 credit card on the spot. Once I got to uni I didn't really have to deal with them a lot since the services I already had were enough, however there were times when finances were tight, so I approached the bank who were more than willing to help out. They have never caused me any problems and whenever I had a problem they were the first to help. I needed to increase my overdraft limit a couple of times for reasons that were completely out of my control, and everytime I applied online I got an instant response, everytime within minutes the money was made available to me (obviously, since then this has all be paid off - they may have said yes in the first place due to my credit rating, I don't know, I just know they agreed). When I graduated I had £1750 available to me via my overdraft with HSBC and the £500 credit card. Even the branch in London where I'm in uni, the staff are really pleasant and seem to actually care. My experience with HSBC has made me want to stick with them with my grad account and then all my other banking thereon, and I would definitely recommend them to any prospective students. I have quite a few friends who have student accounts with NatWest, and they tell me nothing but bad things (demands for money, cancelling cards, refusing financial help etc). Granted, this could well be the minority,and I sure all banks do this to a few; and I emphasise that point, all I know is what I have personally experienced first hand with HSBC and I would whole-heartedly recommend them - I would recommend (regardless of the bank) that you look after your finances. Don't spend your overdraft "just because you can". It all has to be paid back and can be vital for 'unexpected' costs. I suppose if you look after your finances, then you're not going to have a problem no matter which bank you choose, just don't choose a bank purely for the gimmicks they offer - choose a bank for their banking service.

Nightmare to set up, even with a current existing account. I went to three different branches. The one in my university, the woman spoke to me as if I was an idiot, she was useless, telling me the only way to set it up was online, when I told her it came up with an error, she told me to fix it. ERR HELLO I put in my details! The next branch just threw me a bunch of papers to fill out and finally the only decent branch with nice people actually got it right. How comfortably it works depends on the branch , it varies, for one I am never going to the one in my uni ever again.

I'd been a current account holder with HSBC for roughly 4/5 years before starting university and thought I may as well stick with them for my Student Account.

Big mistake, at first they seemed alright that was until I tried to get some straight answers from them regarding my own account.

Towards the end of last semester I needed to increase my overdraft and wanted to increase it from £750 to £1000 still within my allowed maximum for a first year student, this is where I ran into problems. I went into the Oxford branch and asked if I could speak to anyone about it, I was told I'd have to use the phone and I could use the one in the store, fine I thought and used the phone. On the phone they told me I'd have to talk to someone in store but seeing as I was a Student Account holder I'd have to be 'invited' to speak about it.

Now I can assure you I was none too happy about having to be invited to speak about my own account, an account they happily divulged information about to my parents despite me being 19 at the time. I'm now a second year student and after being told when signing up that my overdraft could be increased for my second year I have yet to hear anything other than my overdraft expires on the 24th December this year.

This is most worrying to hear especially as I can't speak to anyone about rectifying this, needless to say I'm now looking elsewhere for my student account.

Been perfect. Recommend all the time.

I've been a HSBC account user since I first needed an account for EMA payments during my days in college. I'm 22 now and the overdraft has not been increased one bit! I agreed to a student account, but all it's done is limit my overdraft to £750 for god knows how many years. The student account provides you with no financial support, the overdraft doesn't nudge at all and the customer service is poor beyond belief. I went in one day during my lunch break and their customer service service was soo poor that I was forced to use up my lunch in a stuffy bank full of useless employees. Thank god there's one guy at HSBC that is helpful. The rest take their sweet a*rse time! Being a HSBC account holder only add grief and frustration to your life. Their branches rely on 4 or 5 employees and whole bunch of machines that will let you down. I'm going into today to talk about my overdraft, I don't expect miracles to happen :( Please stay away from HSBC bank if you expect a reliable service.

On the plus side, the on line banking thing works and easy to use. It's fairly safe because you need to input 3 sets of information that neither you or anyone can memorise :P lol

I have had a bank account with HSBC for years, I only have a £250 overdraft with them. I have previously had a credit card with them with a limit of £6500 and a loan of £100000 which I have now paid off. I have run into a few unexpected payments over the last couple of months so I went into my local branch today so ask if they could increase my overdraft to £750 to cover this months bills. My request was declined for some reason but they then went on to ask if I wanted my old credit card back!!! So they won't give me £500 extra on my overdraft but are willing to offer me £6500 on a credit card with them. Obviously I refused.

I am totally disgusted by this and am now seriously considering switching bank accounts.

A very unhappy HSBC customer!

Absolutely awful, awful service. Am switching ASAP.
Was automatically transferred from a young persons account to a student account, and so no overdraft application was made. I went into branch repeatedly to apply for an overdraft, but no-one seemed to know what they were doing, and eventually I was told I was not eligible for an overdraft, as it is dependent on income, and my only income is my student loan. Surely the point of a student account is to make allowances for the fact that I'm a student? If I had a bigger income I wouldn't NEED the overdraft. They also advertise 2 years free travel insurance, but again, I was told that no-one knew anything about this, they weren't a student branch.
Just utterly pointless, I am furious with the whole thing.

HSBC student account is a big scam. After withdrawing the post graduate loan facility without informing me I was unable to get a loan. It was agreed with my local branch that I could extend my student account until I completed my masters. Two month after this agreement HSBC decided to withdraw agreed facility and are now threatening me with a debt collecting agency. I have been unable to workout a payment plan with the bank as I do not have a job but they are insisting that I pay off my over draft in full. I am constantly harassed by phone call up to 8 per day sometimes, the bank has been unwilling to make any arrangement at all. My parents are paying off by direct debit at the moment but this is not enough. I am stuck in a mess that I feel the bank crated

I thought I was having quite good experiences with HSBC... I've had no problems with the cold calling people have mentioned, and I don't use the overdraft facility, so that doesn't bother me. This is until I tried to make use of my free travel insurance that was one of the main reasons I got the account, since I'm doing a languages degree that requires me to travel abroad...to find out that they hadn't set it up properly, and until I paid in another £1000 they wouldn't give me it...despite having put all my loan installments into this account, and I had to do it by the end of my first year.... so, not having 1000 pounds, I couldn't use the service. I've sent given them change of address forms so many times, and they still don't know where I live, and now, I've been waiting over 2 weeks for a debit card they forgot to issue me with when it expired, having also sent it to a branch i didn't want them to. They tell me it'll take them 4-6 days to get it from Doncaster to Nottingham...A man on a horse could get it that distance faster. So, when I add all this to the overall incompetance of seemingly all of their staff..as soon as my card arrives, I shall use it to take out all my money and go somewhere else...

Terrible banking with HSBC. I've been with HSBC for years and problems started with my student account and online banking. When I had my debit card stolen once I spoke to someoneon the phone who had no idea what I was trying to tell him about which branch to send my new card to, and with the card being sent from one wrong branch to the next it basically took a MONTH to get a card. A month without a debit card is completely impractical!
Also I've lost count of how many times my online banking has been locked and I've had two or three fraud attempts despite changing my security code several times. I used to be happy with them but not since my account became a student account. My advice would be to avoid them!!!

HSBC gave me a student account with an overdraft. Because my student loan and part-time job wages apparently did not sit intact in the account long enough (it's a current account, not a savings account, for goodness sake), I ran into difficulties.

They refused the much-advertised overdraft extension after the first year because of my "poor record". When I asked the HSBC employee for advice on how to improve my "record", she said the reasons for someone having a poor record are confidential and even she could not know them! It was a preposterous mystery that I could be told that I was a "poor" customer but that advice on how to rectify this was classified! ALSO, if a student had a glowing "record" (by paying in their lottery jackpot win, I can only imagine), they would not NEED the overdraft extension. So HSBC attract customers by advertising this but it is, in fact, a fiction.

HSBC then did the very un-chivalrous thing and demanded instant repayment of my overdraft. Obviously, being a student, I was in no position to do this. HSBC passed my account to a foreign debt-collection agency, who threatened me with bailiffs and court proceedings. All this because I was, as a student, unable to pay as much and as often into my student account as HSBC would have liked.

I have only just cleared my debt with this debt-collection agency and will never, ever, EVER bank with HSBC again. They were underhand and belligerent, and they fall far short of the promises made in their ads.

It hasn't been possible to change my billing address after 6 attempts and the HSBC Student Account customer service is generally awfull

my hsbc student account has a low overdraft - they will only give me £250 if i need it in an emergecy. but good service and easy to talk to.

Went into my HSBC local branch at Redcar, and they were unable to deal with my query and i had to use their phone which put me through to a call centre in india, as soon as i asked what I wanted, I was declined and got told goodbye!

HSBC have no customer skills whatsoever, and from my own experience they want to replave staff wiht machines, and when you want to speak to a banking assistant, you are told to use their phonje in which you could use at home and get put though to india.

Also you cannot phone your branch directly unlick you can with NatWest. HSBC are making too many cut backs and they are not taking their customers into consideration.
tried to extend over draft, and without any reason or listening to me the declined!