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HSBC: Business Banking reviews

Name: Business Banking
Rating: 2.34 (211 reviews)

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2.17

Based on 211 reviews, last reviewed 17th Oct 2024

No new 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

No new 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

18%

13%

55%

Latest highest rating:

5

Very helpful ,professional team ,good app ,easy to o... Very helpful ,professional team ,good app ,easy to operate ,hsbc stand up with my company during corona virus ,all time I revive nite for assistance, ... Read more Reviewed on: 13th April 2024

Latest lowest rating:

1

erratic access to my account I have been a customer of HSBC a Reviewed on: 17th October 2024

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About this product

HSBC business banking reviews at Smart Money People are helping other business people to fund out what being a business banking customer at HSBC is really like. With business banking and aspects such as access to finance being so important to many business owners, Smart Money People is becoming the UK's leading source of HSBC business banking reviews. Remember that you can write yours too, and join our mission to increase trust and transparency in financial services.

HSBC Business Banking reviews (211)

Review of the HSBC, Business Banking:

Choose very wisely

There are banks which will support your growth when it happens and who will respond to your business needs as and when they arrive. HSBC is not one of those banks. I wouldn't consider them for lending purposes (Funding Circle is the place to go for that) but they merit the seemingly poor reputation reflected on this site in every single way. I hope the indifferent and hostile customer service is intentional because if it's not, it's alarmingly amateur for a brand name bank. If you're in a position where you can switch or where you're considering whether to open with them, pay close attention to these poor reviews. They're not wrong. A lot of these reviews may be coming from people who have been refused loans and are aggrieved. Not this one. I'm trading at £5m this year (up from £2m in 2019 ) and I'm very well funded to the extent that it's been more than seven years since I last used any part of my overdraft facility but HSBC have sophisticated ways of making the banking process cumbersom and responses to queries churlish. If it wasn't for the fact that we're all real people, it would make an excellent sitcom. Reviewed on: 6th July 2022

Poor customer service and very slow

Systems work particularly badly for businesses operating over multiple sites - correspondence is all by post so if you need multiple signatories it's a huge headache to organise. Telephone banking seems impossible to set up - I've been trying since 2017 (!) and they keep rejecting my application and not telling me. They just blocked me saying I gave the wrong answers to security questions, despite the fact I'd given exactly the same (and correct) answers 10 minutes previously and getting through. They are still sending correspondence to the address of previous primary user, despite the fact that he is no longer a signatory at all, and they require another form to change the address. Avoid if at all possible - I've reached end of my tether and now planning to change. Reviewed on: 18th August 2022

Poor communication and slow application processing times

We tried to switch our business' bank account from Starling to HSBC. I was however, disappointed to receive a letter through yesterday stating that my application had been declined without any explanation nor justified reason. What is more disappointing is the time taken to go through this whole process (around 10 weeks, which is far longer than the original time estimate provided by HSBC) in which the process was time consuming: completing the application, having 2 calls, providing all the necessary documents and then not even receiving a reason for the account transfer being declined. The communication and length of time the decision took, in my opinion, was not acceptable. For context, it took less than 2 days to set-up an additional Revolut Business account with no hassle and much lower fees particularly on non-GBP accounts. HSBC Business need to improve their application processing times and importantly communication if they're to remain competitive in today's environment. Reviewed on: 12th July 2022

Avoid this company for your business

Stay clear from HSBC business banking. Their security practises are flawed. I went to report a fraudulant transaction, they couldnt tell me what the transaction was and had to pass me to another team. I had allready passed telephone security at this point. During the transfer i had an automated response asking me to put in my security code??? Which i did, unsuccessfuly. My account is now locked and the team i was passed onto, say they are unable to help with this Fraud case i raised until my account is unlocked by customer services, which wont be until monday!!!! Lets hope there are not any more transactions coming in over the weekend! HSBC are a complete joke. Stay well clear. Reviewed on: 9th July 2022

poor customer service

Tried to open an account. Called up and was referred to online chat, online chat refers to website, start to fil in form and referes to online chat. One big circle. Foreign staff on the chat who are no help. shambles. Reviewed on: 25th May 2022

Don't trust your business accounts to HSBC

HSBC have no clue what Business banking is - there is zero customer service or relationship management. They don't really want to attract SMEs in the UK - presumably, we are too small for them - but rather than say so they just behave so badly you are forced to go elsewhere - a bit like the teenage boy who doesn't' have the courage to break up with his girlfriend. Reviewed on: 24th May 2022

Embarrassing customer services

Tried to close the account after various poor experiences. Initially posted account closure form, but was told this 'never arrived' when I called to enquire why I was still getting emails. As advised, I took one into branch to ensure that they received it, and was promised that I was given a goodwill gesture to cover the additional months fee. After taking the form into the branch my log in details stopped working, so I assumed that the closure was going through. I called when I still hadn't received any final statements or confirmation of closure and was told that they hadn't had any account closure form, they hadn't put the goodwill gesture onto the account so it was in debit, and that I needed to send another form and clear a £15.99 fee (which was never really explained as it doesn't add up to the monthly fees) to close the account! Honestly embarrassing for a large bank to treat their customers this way, I agreed to pay the fee just so that I could be done with HSBC business banking after another 30 mins on the phone with them they were suddenly able to close the account over the phone (although I'll have to wait and see if it actually goes through this time...). Much cheaper options available elsewhere. Avoid. Reviewed on: 28th April 2022

Over 1 hour being transferred around various depts to report a fraud

Trying to report possible fraudulent transactions via debit card, over 1 hour being transferred to the various department without success. Reviewed on: 20th April 2022

Magnificent

They are a magnificent bank, highly professional, down to earth and well recommended by myself. I am honoured to be part of HSBC Reviewed on: 30th March 2022

Embarrassing service - closure of business account

In this time and age I had to complete a PAPER document and send off to the bank's customer service team BY POST to close my business account. After 10 days HSBC had made an attempt to contact me, I wasn't able to answer the phone. I then wanted to call back, unsuccessfully. I requested a call back and the whole experience went totally south from then on. I've been transferred from one team to another, the last office I've been put through turned out to shut for the day and the line went dead...I still have no idea what is the status of my bank account closure, what was the purpose of HSBC contacting me and when this will be resolved. Chat option is just pointless. The queue is always long (approx 50 people) and no resolution provided. Online banking and app are very limited too which means long hours spend on a phone calling customer service. Very disappointing and will never recommend to anyone. Reviewed on: 28th March 2022

Making business banking difficult

I've just closed all my HSBC accounts and moved to Starling. It had become impossible to do what I needed to with a rapidly deteriorating customer service. Online banking and app clunky and limited, meaning too often then forced to phone...except I'd then be in call centre hell literally until my phone ran out of charge (and it was fully charged when I began). I can't believe that 2 years later they are still claiming their ridiculous wait time are "higher than usual due to the covid pandemic". Businesses that actually care adjusted a long time ago. On closing my account they claimed the balance back for themselves with no explanation ("account adjustment") - online chat told me I needed to phone to resolve that. I wasted 2.5 hours trying to get through to someone who could help - until yet again my phone ran out of charge. Gave it up as a lost cause - I'm trying to run a business; I can't waste hours trying to get through to an unhelpful and uncaring bank. So disappointed. I don't know what's happened to them Reviewed on: 18th March 2022

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