Before I begin, lets get a little back ground on the HSBC savings account. The HSBC savings account first came on the scene in 2005 with out much fan fare, but quickly grew to become one of the most popular online high interest savings accounts available. HSBC is one of the largest and most respected financial companies in the world and have won numerous awards for their financial services and products. One of the most recent awards is the Best Overall Online Savings Account by Kiplingers Finance. Along with their strong reputation and world class products, they provide top notch customer service and are one of the most solidly backed financial institutions in the world. In fact HSBC did not take any of the recent TARP funds during our recent economic turmoil. They were able to do this by maintaining integrity and adhering to the rules and not fudging the numbers. That says a lot and I bet, like me, your bank can not say that.

What drew me to HSBC and to sign up for their savings account was the high interest rates that were being offered. Who would have thought you could earn so much on your money with just a simple savings account. While interest rates are not as high now, they have seen 5% and over the past 41/2 years, I have earned a great deal of interest through my HSBC savings account. Below I am going to give you a complete review of the HSBC savings account, but will not be showing any of my personal information or screen shots of my personal account.

Signing Up

Signing up is relatively easy and should take no more than 5-10 minutes of your time. I was able to complete the application in one sitting, but there is an option to continue the application at a later date if you need to.After completing the online application, you will then link your bank account to the HSBC savings account. Once linked, you will then need to confirm two deposits to prove account ownership.

The rest of the process and also the worst part of the sign up process is waiting for the confirmation letters, atm cards, etc to come via snail mail, but the wait is only a couple of days and I received mine in a3 business days. Once you have completed the sign up process and have all your confirmation letters, you simply start funding your savings account. Ready to get started? Sign up here. After you have signed up, the process is complete and you just keep funding your account.

HSBC Savings Account Features

The features are the best part of the HSBC Advance savings account. Take a look at the features and benefits below and compare to your local bank

  • Link to any and all HSBC accounts you have, including insurance, banking, cd’s mortgage and any of the other accounts they have
  • No minimum balance requirements (just start with $1)
  • NO FEES – thats right, no low balance fees, monthly fees, etc
  • FDIC Insured
  • Data exports to Money, Quicken and many other financial software
  • ATM card and reimbursement for up to 3 usage fees outside of their network
  • Awesome customer service
  • High interest rates (click here to verify interest rates)
  • APPLY NOW

Compare to other Savings Accounts

Okay, I just used Bank of America, because that is who I have a checking and savings account through.

The current interest rate for HSBC is 1.10% APR, there is no minimum balance and no fee for failing to keep a minimum balances. However, Bank of America pays a measily .10% APR, you must keep $300 in the account and if not, you pay a $5 fee. Ready to keep more of your money? Click here!

So, if Bank of America does not pay well why do I have an account. They have Keep the Change. Every purchase I make with my debit card gets rounded to the nearest dollar and deposited in my account. So every month, I take the total savings and transfer it in to my HSBC Advance savings account. Also, Bank of America matches up to $250 of my savings per year and so that is another deposit that I get to add to my HSBC savings account.

Final Thoughts

The HSBC Advance savings account is an excellent alternative to your local bank and due to the stability of the company is the best alternative to other online savings accounts. The fact that they did not take any of the TARP funds and have any set backs during our recent financial turmoil seals the deal and confirms that I am gonna keep my money with HSBC. Looking past the financial stability, the interest rate is among the highest available for no fee savings accounts and the perks such as reimbursement of ATM card fees are awesome. If you are looking for a place to stick some money with security, integrity and excellent customer service, then open an HSBC savings account today.

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