Francis Borg, Sliema
Exorbitant charge for money transfer
I always had the impression that local bank charges were more or less in line with those of other banks in Europe.
I realise now that it is not the case. Quite recently I was charged €30 by HSBC for transferring, via e-banking, €1,000 to a bank account in Italy. Just a few days ago a much bigger sum was similarly transferred to my HSBC Bank account in Sliema but the bank charges applied by the Italian bank in Italy were only €6.
No wonder HSBC profits keep going up and up every year.
Advert
Advert
9 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
Daisy Pennock
Nov 20th 2008, 22:11
As I said yesterday HSBC = Highly Suspicious Bank Charges - AVOID
lgalea
Nov 20th 2008, 21:55
I wanted to send €9 to a German firm for some spare parts (cost of parts + post = €9). WHen I went to both HSBC and BOV they wanted to charge me €30 to transfer the €9.
Needless to say that I made other arrangements.
laurence schembri
Nov 20th 2008, 19:10
It has been going on for years.
Deposit a foreign cheque into your current account and you have a 30 day wait for the cash, while I know for sure that the sum concerned is transferred within 4 to 5 days, sitting in your local bank, not your account. The point is who gets the interests?
Plus you get charged 0.5% on the whole sum for bringing foreign needed cash into the country.
On a invite to Wall Street Stock Exchange, mafia boss Lucky Luciano uttered; `And you call me a gangster!`
Mark Fleri
Nov 20th 2008, 13:35
Like Erin I too closed all my bank accounts with HSBC and opened them with APS who provide a much better service and who gave me a much better deal. I have had a number of issues with HSBC in the past and they simply do not listen. I was going to open a mortgage account with them but then they wanted to charge me over 500 euros in fees as opposed to 0 euros with APS. HSBC are the worst bank on this Island!!!!!!!!!!
Gorg Borg
Nov 20th 2008, 13:21
I'm not defending the banks but if you use a SEPA payment you get charged €1 if it is less than €1000 and €4 if it is €1000 or more. The bank may not show this info clearly.
Erin Ciantar
Nov 20th 2008, 12:45
Change Bank. I have closed all my accounts with HSBC and if things keep going as they are I will be closing everything with BOV too. I find that the smaller banks are much more customer friendly.
M. Storace
Nov 20th 2008, 12:17
I fully concur with Mr. Borg's statement. Last summer, I called at HSBC and asked one of the clerks to transfer an amount of €350 as a deposit to one of the hotels in Italy; I was informed that if I were to transfer the amount personally via e-banking the charge would be €4 whereas if the bank were to execute the same service on my behalf the charge would be €30 - a really good profit of €26 for the bank !!!!! How is that for customer service ??? No wonder HSBC keep on piling up their profits at the expense of their customers.
N Mallia
Nov 20th 2008, 10:38
That is HSBC for you, the customer is always an afterthought to their business!
They haven't grasped the concept of the customer is always right yet. Even in local branches, when there is a large amount people there in line for the cashiers, they still close one cashiers desk when it is their break time, unlike BOV which usually open up a side desk to lessen the waiting time (in the Rabat branch).
M.Degiorgio
Nov 20th 2008, 10:37
I have used HSBC for transferring considerable sums to European banks in several occasions, never to be charged more than €4 for each transaction. Same goes for the reverse transfers from foreign banks which for me never went over €6.
However, one must be careful as the clerks doing the transaction are not always competent to say the least. I know of cases abroad were for the same transaction amounting to the same sum was overcharged charged €15.
I suppose that this can happen even in Malta! One must always put pressure on banks and ask for tariffs, why and how, and compare between banks and bank branches.