HSBC may be "the world's local bank", but more notably they're the world's worst! I have never had a worse banking experience than with HSBC, they are unhelpful (especially to existing customers), uncompetitive (both in terms of lending rates and banking services) and moreover they're completely incompetent. Thankfully it's been years since I held a current account with this shameful institution (never again shall I make that mistake) but last week I foolishly applied for a 0% balance transfer credit card with them. I'll bullet-point the chaos that ensued to save time: - Nearly a week after my application, without providing even an email confirmation to acknowledge that they had received it, they finally contacted me by email to request further information. - Despite me passing a credit check with ease, they requested that I upload copies of my last 3 payslips and last 3 month's bank statements. In hindsight this was a ludicrous request considering I had passed the credit check, but I figured I was committed by this point so I obliged and uploaded the documents through their frustrating online service. - A further 2 working days after this (again, no email confirmation) I finally receive a call from their frankly downright rude and abrasive credit card team. They start by challenging my declared salary, insisting that they've 'done the math' and it adds up to less than I've declared. Now, like any normal human being on this planet, I know what my annual salary is - so I questioned what 'math' they had done to arrive at this bizarre conclusion. It transpires they are calculating my annual basic salary post-tax and post corporate deductibles (company benefits, pension, etc.). That's not right is it? Damn straight it's not right, in fact, I've been back to their online application screen since to check and it clearly states that they want your annual income BEFORE tax. In any case, there was no reasoning with this particular moron who was adamant they had read my payslips correctly (they hadn't - my salary before tax is clearly stated and if you multiply it by 12, guess what? it adds up to my declared annual income!). In less polite words than I'm using now I 'requested' that they cancel my application and swipe their 0% card somewhere other than a card reader. - 20 minutes later I applied online for a similar card with Santander. - My application was accepted immediately. The moral of this story is: DON'T EVER BANK WITH HSBC, EVER, FOR ANY REASON! With love, Sam