- Customers who opened HSBC’s one-year Isa say it is fraught with problems
- The Isa does not appear in online banking and cash transferred does not show
- The issue affects customers who opened an Isa after April 10. Are you one of them? Email [email protected]
Customers who opened an HSBC Isa from 10 April have been unable to see or access any of the cash they paid in, This is Money can reveal.
This is Money understands that the issue was affecting customers who opened HSBC’s one-year fixed-rate Isa.
One HSBC customer told This is Money that a £61,000 transfer he authorised on opening the Isa was taken from his HSBC accounts and sent to a mysterious account he didn’t recognise.
Daniel Redmond* opened HSBC’s one-year Isa on 15 April and authorised HSBC to make a £20,000 transfer from his HSBC current account and £41,000 from an existing Isa held with HSBC on the same day.
It’s a mystery: Customers who opened an HSBC one-year fixed Isa after the start of the tax year have been left concerned after being unable to see any cash they transferred in
Just before 5pm on 17 April Daniel was notified that the money had left his accounts. However, the money did not show up in the new one-year Isa.
Daniel could see on his statements that it had instead been sent to an unnamed account with a sort code and account number he had never seen.
He called HSBC, as he found it suspicious that this had happened at the end of the working day and thought the unknown account details could indicate a scam.
He said: ‘At first HSBC were quite dismissive, but when I told them the amount they took more notice and said they would look into it.’
Daniel had to hold on the phone for 20 minutes while a HSBC agent looked into the account.
He said: ‘Eventually, HSBC told me the problem was due to an IT issue and to wait for a few days. They said the IT issue would be affecting everyone who set up a similar account.
‘They said that my Isa had actually been opened and that the sort code and account number belonged to my new Isa but I was not notified that the Isa had been set up and it had no name attached to it, not even “HSBC” or “Isa”.’
HSBC said: ‘The opened accounts are visible internally and we can discuss the accounts with customers in the usual ways. The customer’s fixed rate cash Isa is accruing interest at the rate agreed at the time the customer took the product.’
When the saver opened the account, he was told it could take up to five days for the account to be formally opened, and that the transfer request would be part of that process.
He said: ‘The way I see it, it has now been six days without any access to or oversight of my money.
‘I have banked with HSBC for over 15 years now and was keeping my accounts with the same provider with the hope that it would be easy and smooth to make transfers.
‘I can’t see the one-year fixed-rate account on my mobile app or online banking at all. I only found out the money I authorised for the Isa transfer had been withdrawn from my accounts when I looked at my statement and saw that it had been sent to a random account I didn’t recognise.’
He was not told by HSBC when he will be able to see or access his Isa.
He said: ‘They gave me the impression that they were not aware of this issue at all and even thanked me for notifying them about it.’
In limbo: One reader could not see the £61,000 he had transferred into the HSBC one-year Isa, instead it got transferred to a seemingly random account that he feared was fraudulent
Other customers have reported on X, previously Twitter, that they cannot see new HSBC accounts they opened either.
One customer said: ‘I opened a fixed-rate Isa last week and £5,000 taken from my account to fund it. No sign of the account in my internet banking and chat/telephone support from HSBC have been useless. Even telling me so much as you’re not supposed to be able to see it.’
While another said: I opened a [HSBC] fixed rate account earlier this week but it isn’t showing on either internet banking or your iOS app.’
HSBC said on X: ‘Sorry, we are aware of an issue with customers not being able to see their fixed rate Isas online, and our experts are looking to get it fixed as soon as possible.’
This is Money contacted HSBC to ask it to look into the whereabouts of Redmond’s money.
A HSBC spokesperson said: ‘We are aware that some customers who have recently opened a fixed rate Isa aren’t currently able to see their newly opened account online. We are working hard to fix this and we apologise for any inconvenience caused. All accounts are being opened in line with customer requests and the customer is earning interest at the rate agreed at the time they opened this Isa.
‘Customers are issued with welcome packs and Isa declarations by post which confirm the details of their account. These may take a couple of days to land with the customer.’
HSBC has now fixed the issue, after This is Money intervened.
*Daniel Redmond is pseudonym as the HSBC customer asked not to be named
