I first got the Orchard Bank HSBC credit card to actually establish credit, and I accepted the $19 dollar processing fee. Which literally takes up to a month to complete. Activated the card accepted the $79 dollar annual fee, and right then and there the phone calls started to enroll in protection plans for the account. My line of credit was $300 minus the $79 annual fee, $221 wasn't worth more fees to protect. The card promises $0 liability, and that should be good enough. I used the card for gas only, it was weird how when I was approaching my line of credit they made sure no charges went through, but when my card was stolen they allowed $213 over the line of credit to go through. Luckily after going back and forth through all the departments that they have for every little feature on the card i.e. fraud, customer service, case dept etc., I was able to get the funds returned to me. Also the website gives you a bunch of options to choose from, like to do a balance transfer and line of credit increase request that only refers you to their non toll free number. Why put it there in the first place?

It's weird how all these reviews have given the Orchard Bank (HSBC) credit card a low rating. Orchard Bank has recently revamped their website and it works just fine. I should know I design sites for a living! Anyway, I've only had the card for six months, but I've been able to pay online without a hitch. You can schedule the day you want to pay your bill, and as long as you don't wait until the last second (I think it's a two-day minimum), then there's no fee to pay your bill online.

You shouldn't allow your credit card to get close to the limit and then complain about some small monthly charge being tacked on and making you go over the limit. Maybe this is the reason you have to get a card like Orchard in the first place! Anyway, I don't get charged a monthly charge unless you're talking about the finance charge, which is typical of any card with a balance.

I highly recommend this card if you're looking to improve your credit rating, as it gets reported to all three agencies each month (I checked).

After 4 years as an Orchard Bank customer, you get zero loyalty. Never having a problem was a blessing, because if you do this is the wrong place to be. Recently I was notified of an over limit condition. I had been close to my limit with it being the holidays, and I was paying particular attention to my credit limit. I needed gas, and being careful not to exceed my limit, I first checked my limit via the website. Then I checked by phone. Armed with the information as to my current status and knowing that there were no charges out, I got gas, careful not to exceed my limit. Wham, I get slapped with a $30 dollar over limit charge. Between the time I actually got gas and their system updating, they charged me a monthly service charge. I'm supposed to know what time of the month they add their charges. Customer service was really helpful offering to split the difference. They were more interested in collecting a fraudulent fee than maintaining me as a customer.

Talking about fees... If you try to make a payment over the phone they charge a fee, if you need to make an express payment (within 2 days of your due date) they charge a fee, ask for a replacement card because yours is cracked - you got it, they charge a fee. By the way, they are so cheap they can not even provide a toll free customer service line to talk to a real, and I use the term loosely, customer service rep or supervisor.

I closed my account. Only a fool would deal with these people.

They attempt to charge you for everything. Most of the time I used this card, you didn't even have a 1-800 number to call if you had questions. Real cheap skates !

Orchard Bank is a sub-prime lender and, more recently, part of the HSBC network of financial institutions. As a part of the HSBC network, one would imagine that Orchard Bank would maintain, at a minimum, a reasonably functional Website. However, trying to navigate that site leads one to discover that well over 75% of the internal links are broken. They make a multitude of moronic mistakes when coding the URL links and it makes one wonder if they don't do this on purpose so that people cannot pay their credit card bill online and thus Orchard Bank has a better chance of then hitting them with astronomical penalties and higher interest rates.

If they manage their actual accounts with the same amazing lack of competence, watch how your tax dollars will have to bail them out (FDIC) when they go belly up. This is one bank NY Attorney General Spitzer should look into.