First time i get to submit something, quite exhilarating. I think this goes under the deals / bargains part considering what i have seen before but i could be wrong, not sure if this should be in the forums instead? Its always available and free i believe.
A friend of mine works at HSBC and told me about this new account from HSBC which has a lot of benefits for people who in the past used to use 28 Degrees or other cards to withdraw foreign currencies when they went travelling as well as purchasing in foreign currencies. He knows i travel a lot and used to use 28 degrees for this till they changed the ability to withdraw cash out without penalties overseas.
Its called Everyday Global Account. Sounds pretty promising as it has some features that i havent seen before. I tend to hold onto a lot of my foreign currencies once i come back from a holiday. With this card, i believe i can deposit the foreign currency into my account and dont have to hold onto the notes etc and then withdraw it again without fees when i go back to that country…
The pros of the account:
- no atm or transaction fees with no requirements for minimum deposits or account fee.
- can hold multiple currencies all under 1 bank account
- no overseas atm or overseas transaction charges so good for online shopping (overseas merchants) and traveling overseas (this can be as high as 3% for some banks). This mean you are paying like a local…
- safer than carrying cash
- comes with visa zero liability fraud protection
- can plan ahead and transfer funds and save in foreign currency when exchange rates are favorable
- it comes with hsbc’s home and away benefits scheme
- can do everything an Australian dollar account can ie bpay, direct debits and credits, bank@post, online banking and recurring transactions.
- real time fx rates
- paywave, Apple Pay and android pay all available
Cons:
- HSBC is not a big 4 bank in Australia (but atms locally are now free anyway)
- only 10 currencies at the moment
- no sign on bonus…
8/12/2022 update
From 9/1/2023 HSBC Argentina, France, Greece, Mexico, Malta and Turkey will be excluded from overseas ATM's that have no service charge.
I'm aware the digital security key is that token, but from an (Apple) user perspective it removes the need for me to carry that physical token. So that on mobile I use FaceID and on desktop internet banking I use the app to generate the 2-factor key.
It's most likely not the best choice if you need a local bank. I use HSBC mainly in connection with my HSBC accounts for other regions, this is where it's great.
I think it's getting there but have to give it time as these changes are only from the last few months as I know.