HSBC Customers in the UK - Safeguard and the intrusive questions

I have a bank account and credit card with HSBC in the UK. I barely use them, but they are handy for when I visit the UK and I sort of use this account as my holiday fund/spending money account.

Recently they've been pestering me to "update my details" with a program they have implemented called Safeguard. Long story short, I phoned them today to and they want seriously detailed personal information. They are collecting this from all new and existing customers apparently. As I just moved to Australia and said I was unemployed but hoping to have a job next week, she basically stopped the process and will continue it next week, but they wanted to know things like what citizenship do I have? Where am I tax resident? Where does all my income come from (who's your employer, what are your hours, what is your gross pay, what is your net pay, etc)?

After I got off the phone I was quite shocked with the level of detail they wanted. Most of it is none of their damn business. I did a quick google search and found others complaining and they are getting questioned in far more detail than I was.

I'm seriously considering draining my account in the next couple of days then when she calls back telling her to cancel my credit card and close my account.

Anyone else gone through this interrogation yet?

I would tell them to poke it! They didnt need that information for you to open the accounts so there is no need for it now. Why do they need to hold all that information. You can always tell them ridiculous stuff, like you earn a million, your employed by Donald Trump, any old ****, see what they say haha, nothing to lose, all they can do is cancel your credit card, or leave it with just a pound outstanding.

One bank I particularly don't like is HSBC and I'd be reluctant to share personal details over the phone. If I were you, I'd tell them I'll update my details online.

If you Google it you will see that you have no choice. They are basically going tell you to bank elsewhere. As I don't live in the UK I can't switch. Guess no UK bank account for me.

As for updating online it's not an option. This is a 15 to 20 minute phone "interview" every single customer will have to undergo.

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All UK banks are asking about residence and tax status as it is a new requirement. I have had forms to complete that have also asked about income etc. I have not answered those questions as they are NOT part of the mandatory requirement. I assume they are just after info for marketing purposes on the back of the mandatory requirements.

So far so good. Some I have not bothered to reply to at all as they say if I do not respond they " may be required to report my details to HMRC". Fine by me I am not hiding anything and still do an annual HMRC tax return as well as my ATO one.

They have tightened the net to prevent dodgy dealings but have scooped us all up in the process. Why I can't move money that they have had for years into another better savings account with the same bank is beyond me. They quote money laundering rules but that simply doesn't wash if they have had the money in another account for several years.........

I have a HSBC account but haven't had any contact from them yet. I will certainly not be phoning them from Australia but I will be happy to fill in some forms for them.

I have a HSBC account but haven't had any contact from them yet. I will certainly not be phoning them from Australia but I will be happy to fill in some forms for them.

Absolutely LOVE your (Dale Carnegie) signature, should be PIO's slogan :yes:

They will phone you. I have free calling to the UK so I did it at my convenience, but everything I've read and been told means you still have to undergo this 15-20 minute phone call.

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Whilst I have not yet been advised/contacted myself,The below is what I got from searching 'Safe Guard' in the HSBC web page seems a simple update of records. We were in our UK bank in December dealing directly with a person (we were moving some big money about to buy a house) nothing was said then though we did update a couple of things like phone numbers but nothing much really. We have used a c/o address since leaving the UK some 17 years ago and this has never raised any questions.

I cannot see how employer/salary etc will be any use, in fact it maybe a hindrance as employment circumstances change, however in your instance it maybe that you have a "Credit Card" that more questions need to be asked, we only have debit cards. We also find that having a UK bank account is more useful than not.

In today's technology-driven world, banking security has never been more important. At HSBC we're constantly putting new and better ways in place to protect our customers' accounts.

This is why we're introducing HSBC Safeguard; a series of initiatives designed to better protect all our customers from fraud and financial crime. To do this effectively, we need a little help from you. We have global systems that deter and detect criminal activity. To work most effectively, these systems rely on having the most up-to-date customer information. Now we need to confirm that the information we have about you is both accurate and current.

While I agree the website description and the letters/emails from HSBC made it look fairly innocent, the reality was slightly different. My call ended prematurely because of my employment situation, but at the end of the call I was told that they'd be wanting to know my gross and net pay. I thought to myself that's crossing the line and not really any of their business. Since I was only a few minutes into a 20 minute questionaire I started to wonder just how invasive it would be. That's what made me search the web and dig a litter deeper. I found links such as these:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5389734

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/savings/10788369/Savers-must-answer-intrusive-questions-to-get-money.html

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?459389-Intrusive-Questions-by-HSBC-Bank-I-am-not-happy-to-answer

Pay particular attention to the first posting of the last link I posted. Questions like "what do you buy" "what investments do you have" "what property do you own and how much is it worth".

I know the US has forced other countries to supply personal data to weed out US citizens with FINTRAC but this goes well beyond that. I can't imagine there are regulatory requirements for this Stasi like level of detail. If this genuinely is required then I'm completely disgusted by it.

When applying for a mortgage you have to supply such information, similar with credit cards, in each case so they can evaluate amount and risk, and I believe you need to inform them of any change in circumstances (though we seldom do).

When we first applied for our mortgage here in OZ I told the guy what salary I was on and to the cent he told me what my weekly take home pay was, he then asked about other debts and assets as well as weekly outgoings I had, then from all this information he advised how much mortgage and credit card limit he could make available to me. I had no problem with this, and in the same situation would not now, though I admit that for my normal banking now it would trouble me for two reasons - 1) security of so much information and 2) Miss-use by them using it to bombard me with unsolicited junk mail for investment/insurances and the like.

I see the point if your applying for a mortgage, but if its just because you have an existing savings account/current account with them its none of their damn business how much you earn!

My 6 year old son has been getting these letters from HSBC demanding he fills out their "Customer Information Forms" as part of their "Safeguard initiative". They want to know who his employer is, his annual income, does he receive social security benefits, is he a company director. As the OP says very intrusive questions. Naturally my son hasn't replied (not that it's the intrusive nature of the questions that has stopped him replying).

Today he's got a letter to tell him that as he hasn't replied they're putting a restriction on his account. They're reducing his ATM cash withdrawal limit to 50pounds per day.

Now that might sound like a restriction to you or me. When I tell him I think he might be happy to hear that he's going to get an ATM card - or that he's going to be able to withdraw anything considering the only account he has is a Stakeholder Child Trust Fund that he can't access until he's 18.

Clearly HSBC have no idea who their customers are or what accounts they have so I suppose on one level it's good that they're trying to find out. I'm just glad I don't have any shares in HSBC (you'd have to be mad to invest in this level of disorganisation).

On 2/16/2017 at 5:47 PM, AJ said:

I see the point if your applying for a mortgage, but if its just because you have an existing savings account/current account with them its none of their damn business how much you earn!

They want to know how much banking you'll be doing with them, which includes how much money you expect to put through their account that they can use to make profit.

If it's not much, they might tell you to go bank elsewhere, or try and charge a fee for maintaining the account.