Originally posted on 9/8/16. Reposting on 11/17/16 since this deal is expiring tomorrow. While this bonus is excellent, beware that it’s an extended process and hassle getting approved and setting up this account (and some people end up getting denied). Only do it if you have the time and patience to deal with it and feel it’s worth the $350.
Offer at a glance
- Bonus amount: $350
- Availability: Nationwide
- Direct deposit required:Â No (optional)
- Additional requirements:Â Some bill payments
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees:Â Waivable with $1,500 balance
- Early account termination fee:Â $25 if closed within 180 days
- Expiration date:Â November 18, 2016
The Offer
- Open a new HSBC Choice checking, Advance checking, or Premier checking by November 18, and get a $350 bonus with qualifying activities
Here’s the qualifying activity:
Either:
Pay at least two bills per month from your new HSBC checking account via HSBC’s online Bill Pay for three consecutive months within 120 calendar days of account opening.
Or:
Receive at least one qualifying direct deposit per month into your new HSBC checking account for three consecutive months within 120 calendar days of account opening. A minimum cumulative amount of $3,000 is required.
The Fine Print
- Offer valid from September 6, 2016 through November 18, 2016
- Customers who held any HSBC personal account between June 6, 2016 and September 6, 2016 are not eligible for this offer (this includes credit cards according to this comment)
- Limit one welcome deposit of $350 per customer, including all individual and joint accounts
- The first line name on the joint account is considered the customer for gift purposes
- The welcome deposit to your HSBC checking account will be reported on the applicable IRS form(s)
- Qualified customers will automatically receive a $350 welcome deposit into their new HSBC checking account approximately eight weeks after completing all offer requirements
Avoiding Fees
Early Termination Fee
There is a $25 fee for closing the account within 180 days (Link).
Monthly Fees
- The easiest way to avoid a monthly fee is to choose the Choice checking account. The $15 monthly fee is waived with $1,500 balance or with direct deposit. (Link)
- The Advance account has a $20 monthly fee which is waived with a $10k balance.
- The Premier account has a $50 monthly fee which is waived with $100k balance.
Our Verdict
Previous HSBC offers needed $10k tied up and direct deposit, but this one is from the best offers we’ve seen in a while. It clicks all the right boxes:
- no hard pull
- available nationwide
- can be opened online
- just a few bill pays to be eligible
- only ties up $1,500 for around six months (or do direct deposit and have $0 tied up)
The only downside is that it doesn’t offer credit card funding.
If you want this bonus, I’d recommend doing this one sooner rather than later as banks have recently made a habit of pulling offers early. We’ll add this to our list of Best Bank Bonuses.
In the comments to this post, readers note that the application process is long and cumbersome, and that they are denying lots of applications for reasons which aren’t clear.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
Hat tip to reader Pier
Applied on Jan 13th and verified trial deposits on Jan 14th and the application is in pending review and till today on jan 22nd , nothing. Although one major change i noticed after applying for hsbc is the increase in the spam calls. sudden surge in the spam calls makes me wonder if HSBC sold my information to whoever they wished. If this is true , they are assholes and should be sued for selling applicant’s information.
Hey Doc, this looks to be back.
Here is a link
https://www.us.hsbc.com/1/2/home/personal-banking/checking-accounts/offer-2017?journey=IAC-21&cid=WES0026624&WT.mc_id=HBUS_WES0026624
Note that they state: “Customers who held any HSBC consumer account from October 1, 2016 through October 1, 2017 are not eligible for this offer.”
Discussed here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/hsbc-200-750-checking-bonus-direct-deposit-not-required/
Applied early Nov 2016. Too much back and forth. December account opening completed by HSBC by pulling money from Wells Fargo. Kept required balance and made some bill pays for some months. $350.00 bonus paid without extra effort by me. Kept account open, but with lower account balance by monthly bank to bank transfers and bill payments. I am now in the process of closing account.
I was advised that I may zero out the account by balance transfer out and logging in after completion. Instruction was to verify the funds transfer out is complete and re-advise HSBC of my desire to close.
So far sounds smooth
HSBC indicated Bank to Bank transfer HSBC to WF would take three business days.
Send 09/22/2017
Deliver by 09/27/2017. I do not at this point if the website has not been updated or that bank still doing three business day transfer.
Ordered Sept 22
Received at Wells Fargo Sept 27
HSBC marked the account a successful transfer Sept 28.
Closed checking account Sept 28th. so far a smooth process.
Received a mailer today $350 bonus for opening a new Advance checking account, expires on 12/1/2017. Mailer has a personalized code but the mail doesn’t have any name. Terms said previously had account from 8/31/2016 to 8/31/2017 not eligible for the bonus. So not sure why mailed to me.
I received The mailer too. The language is a bit ambiguous – it says who held an account from August 2016 to August 2017 are not eligible. Previous bonuses terms were more specific to say who held an account “anytime between” such dates. Does it mean whoever closed the account after receiving the previous bonus are eligible again?
Just closed my account as well to avoid any monthly fees. I wouldn’t have minded keeping it – I never open an account wanting to close it, even for bonsues – but the login process with the wacky security code was too annoying. I understand the need for security but the Big Four banks let you do so much more with their apps and web site.
Thought this day would never arrive. Closed account today via online chat. Good riddance HSBC and thanks for the $350.
For those who may have been denied the bonus by HSBC, but feel they met the requirements, persist. Here is my scenario, as I laid out the story in my CFPB complaint: 10/17/16 – Account opened and received welcome letter Note: If we use 10/17/16 as the account opening date, I’ll have to meet 1 of the 2 requirements for the bonus before February 14, 2017 10/20/16 – Account gets funded with a transfer in from another financial institution where I also have an account. (Note that it took 39 days from the date of original application to get a new checking account setup and funded) 11/29/16 – Added additional funds to account via transfer 12/01/16 – Paid 2 separate bills using HSBC’s bill pay service 12/06/16 – Had chat session with customer service to verify terms of the bonus and key dates. Was told I needed to make 2 more months worth of bill payments in January and February of 2017. 01/03/17 – Paid 2 separate bills using HSBC’s bill pay service 02/01/17 – Paid 2 separate bills using HSBC’s bill pay service With the completion of 2 bill payments on 02/01/2017 I satisfied the requirement to pay at least 2 bills using HSBC’s bill pay feature from my account within 120 days of account opening. The terms of the bonus offer state: “Qualified customers will automatically receive a $350 welcome deposit into their new HSBC checking account approximately eight weeks after completing all offer requirements” 8 weeks from 02/01/2017 is roughly 04/01/2017. I was content to wait until that date and perhaps a bit beyond. In early April upon logging into my HSBC account I was presented with a message that I had not completed the requirements of the bonus offer. I used HSBCs BankMail system to send a secure message inquiring about the issue. Between 04/04/17 and 04/26/17 I had a number of contacts via BankMail. There was a lot of waiting in between messages until I suggested that I might be forced to file a complaint with the CFPB. On 4/25 I finally got firm language from HSBC: “Upon review, we notice that you have not met the bill pay requirements nor the direct deposit requirements for the promotional bonus. As such, the bonus was not credited to your account. Please note: Pay at least two bills per month from your new HSBC checking account via HSBC?s online Bill Pay for three consecutive months within 120 calendar days of account opening. OR ; Receive at least one qualifying direct deposit per month into your new HSBC checking account for three consecutive months within 120 calendar days of account opening. A minimum cumulative amount of $3,000 is required. Since you have not met the promotional bonus requirements, the bonus was not credited to your account.” I replied and asked for them to check that again since my 3 consecutive months of bill pay did occur within 120 days of opening and there was no requirement to begin… Read more »
Just realized I can’t close until 180 days have passed. No biggy, just gonna let the ACH push continue then..
My 180 days are up. Plan to close the account now. Did you just do it through secure message? Will the INT-1099 be sent through mail later then since I probably won’t have access to the account after I close it?
Wait until the statement closed. Withdraw all the money in the account. Then send secure message to close. The form will be sent to your address. Oh and you won’t see the closed account when log in anymore. Hope that helps
great! Thanks. Yes, 6 statements have passed and I’m on day 190. I’ll send the secure msg when the final transfer clear and the account is empty. Btw, I noticed I had an old INT-1099 from several years back when I last open the account that shows up in the tax document history. I guess they keep all the documents together when I opened a new account this time around.
Finally got my bonus after waiting a thousand years… LOL
I applied some time late Oct 2016 but due to the overwhelming demand didn’t get the account approved until early December 2016. After that I had an ACH monthly push into my account until I finally got the bonus posted on 4/21/17. Gonna close the account up next week.
After waited 185 days from acct opened, I transferred all my money to another acct, then waited 48 hours to make sure it’s posted in my other acct, then send them a secure message, they closed the acct within 24 hours, easy and no hassle. Thanks for the bonus.
How did you do the transfer?