HSBC Direct gets into online savings with 4.25% APY

Online savings game just got a little bit more competitive. HSBC, the world’s local bank, and one of the largest banking institutions in the world, is offering 4.25% APY with minimum balance of $1 and $25 bonus to open a new account at HSBC Direct. With long time leader ING Direct currently at 3.75% APY and Emigrant Direct at 4.0% APY, HSBC offering looks very competitive, considering the fact that one can fund the account from another online savings account, allowing the money from ING Direct and Emigrant Direct to flow freely into HSBC. GMAC Bank, at the same time, advertises 4.30% APY for its FDIC-insured money market account, but the site seems to break with “Your request could not be processed” on the last stage of the signup.

Update: HSBC promotional code ccs15 also works for $25.

Posted Thursday, December 15th, 2005 under Money.
  • Darryl Dick

    Hi Alex! I had a question please. First, thank you for your site! I want to use your link to HSBCdirect and also get the $25 for signing up. I noticed that there is a “promotional Code” box on the HSBC page from your link. Do you know the code I would need to get the $25 dollars?

    Also, I am interested in joining the HSBCdirect affiliate program (if there is one). Do you have a link or a contact I could contact if I wanted to join their affiliate program? I’ve contacted HSBC via e-mail, but never get an answer. Thank you! Again, if there is a promotion code, please let me know and I will open my account through your site and (hopefully) you’ll make some money! Thanks again! Darryl Dick, Cincinnati, OH

  • Alex

    Ah, yes, 25pig is the promotional code for free $25 on the account. I won’t get any affiliate kickback, but oh well. I am not sure if they run any affiliate program, being the bank and such.

  • Darryl Dick

    Thanks Alex! I enrolled today through the link you provided. I really appreciate you supplying me with the promotional code. Your site has the only link I’ve found that allows someone to enter a code to get the extra $25. Thank you and I hope you have a great holiday season! Your friend, Darryl :)

  • Ram

    Alex, thanks for blogging this information. Any idea when the promotional code expires?

    Thanks,
    Ram

  • Alex

    Ram, not sure. Since the account can be opened with as little as $1, I’d say get it while you can.

  • April

    How long till the 25.00 credits the account? Thanks!

  • Phil

    Ram- 2/28/06
    April- 45 days

    From HSBC Direct:
    **Limit one $25 bonus per customer. HSBCdirect Online Savings Account must remain open until bonus is credited or bonus will be forfeited. The $25 bonus will be deposited to the HSBCdirect Online Savings Account within 45 days following account opening. Offer expires 11:59:59 PM ET 2/28/06, is subject to change and cannot be combined with any other promotional offers. $25 bonus is considered taxable income and will be reported on IRS Form 1099.

  • Phil

    Watch out folks..

    Account Closing: $25 if your account is closed within six months of opening

  • PJSouth

    I just signed up using the promotion code listed… The promotion for $25 was not listed throughout the process. Could I have done something wrong, or will this still happen behind the scenes when my account is officially opened?

  • Micah

    Hey, thanks. Now I just have to wait for my $25…

  • Matt

    Site works great. Still any idea if they have an affiliate program?

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  • Stay On top

    I switched from ING to Emigrant Direct almost a year ago. ING was no longer competitive. Their CDs still are though, I have several. I keep the Orange Savings account open with one penny.

    Now Emigrant Direct is no longer on top. Their website is looking pretty pathetic because it still advertises them as being the highest, but the quote is nearly 4 months old. I was very dissapointed when they did not match the last Federal Reserve rate increase to 4.25 percent.

    HSBC and FirstFedDirect now offer 4.25. I am thinking of switching over to FirstFedDirect because they also have a very high 1 year CD rate of 4.84. I’d like to have just one online bank and develop a ladder portfolio of short term CDs and then have the option to either roll them over, or redeem to the associated savings account.

    Emigrant Direct does not offer CDs hower, and ING has too low a rate on their savings account. Face it 4.25 minus 3.80 is 35 basis points. That is 350 dollars a year on a 100,000 deposit.

    It is not just the additional interest that matters, but the peace of mind knowing you are getting the top rate. As time goes by, I might end up with several dormant accounts, but I’ll keep them honest by switching to the one that offers the top rate

  • alex

    How do I know if the promotion code works or not ?
    I cannot find any info about promotion code in current website.
    Does anybody know ?

  • Darryl

    I received my $25 promotional bonus today. You can find the box to enter the code by going to the top of this page and clicking the words hsbcdirect. The link for the promotional code will open. I entered 25pig and got my $25. Alex lists another code… ccs15, and says it works.

    Thanks again, Alex! BTW, I’ve contacted them numerous times to inquire about an affiliate program. No one ever gets back to me or knows anything about it. I know they have an affiliate plan because I see their banners on numerous sites.

    If anyone here knows how to join their affiliate program, I’d sure appreciate your help. Everyone take care! Darryl :)

  • timbre

    Hmm, I applied my account last Monday, and they have drawn the mondy from my another account. But I only got three emails saying that the account will be ready within 3 days. However, after 3 days, I still did not recieve any message about the password to log into my acount. Any idea ?

  • http://none Salvador

    Does anyone know if HSBC direct has an AFFILIATE PROGRAM?

  • JE

    It looks like EmigrantDirect has raised its rate to 4.25 percent. Havent seen an official announcement yet but check out their Web site emigrantdirect.com.

  • Peggy C

    Hi! I am looking at online savings accounts. Can you tell me if you can direct deposit from your paycheck to HSBC direct? Thanks!

  • Darryl

    Well, I’m disappointed by Emigrant’s Mastercard. Big build up but little delivered in my opinion. If you spend between 5,000 & 6,000 a month, check out the cashback visa, which gives you 2% back every month! It’s a great card, but you get no additional reward for amounts spent over 6K per month. I’d like to see HSBC come out with a credit card with something better than Emigrant’s offer. Good luck to all.

  • Darryl

    Correction – It’s called the Stockback Visa. I called it Cashback in the above post. :)

  • Darryl

    OK… one more thing… the best savings vehicle of them all may well be PayPal! They are currently paying 4.30%.

  • Alex

    Darryl, PayPal accounts are not FDIC insured, for non-insured FDIC accounts (usually money market accounts with riskier investments) you can expect to get higher return. The gamefield between HSBC-ING-Emigrant is defined by FDIC-insured accounts.

  • Darryl

    Hi Alex! You are certainly correct. PayPal is not FDIC insured. You have a great site! I keep coming back to it to learn from the resources you’ve posted in the left hand column. Thanks again! :)

  • Darryl

    HSBCdirect just went to 4.80% through April 30th.

  • Tim

    So the $25 bonus is still available with the teaser rate? Excellent, I’m opening the account today. Thank you! I received a mailing with the bonus but left it at home and wanted to open it now, so thanks for the info(it was 25pig on my mailing also)!

  • http://hsbc.com Cj

    how do i link ing and hsbc and visa versa? Hsbc doesn’t recognize ING and INg requires a check?

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  • Amy

    Is there a promo code that is still valid? I’d like to get the extra $25. Thanks!

  • Lisa

    Hi guys,
    I want to open an HSBC savings too, but I just have one questions for you all, how much do they charge for money transfer from my checking into their account or back ect..? or is it free? thanks

  • Alex

    Lisa, the transfers are free. Before you click Submit, they tell you what it’s going to cost you, and for me in all cases it’s been $0.00.

  • T

    I called HSBC today and they said that the promo code timedbonus will give you $25 in 6-7 weeks.

  • Amy

    i checked that promocode on their website and it said invalid. Hope it works tomorrow…

  • Kyle

    Does anyone know of an active promo code?
    I have tried all of the ones listed in these forums.
    I called the number too but I was not able to speak with a person.
    Thanks.

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  • Christie

    I stumbled across the website when I was looking for comparisons between ING and HSBC savings accounts. Should I just use the account with the highest interest rate? Is there any major difference between the two companies that I should be aware of? I’m currently only looking for an additional savings account…

  • Kell

    I just opened up one of these HSBC accounts and I’m about ready to close it after 1 hour. Unlike ING and Emigrant, these guys didn’t offer the option to link an account upon enrolling. When I got into the HSBC account I clicked on “transfers” and had no external accounts listed (i.e. the checking account I used to fund it). Upon attempting to activate the “bank to bank transfer” feature they ask me for an ATM code, which I don’t have because I didn’t request an ATM card. Worse yet, there is a $3 fee to transfer from HSBC to non-HSBC….a fee that neither ING nor Emigrant have. Thankfully, I only opened the account with $20, because right now I don’t appear to have access to it anyway.

    Am I missing something, or is HSBC just not very user-friendly at all, especially to those of us who are not previous HSBC customers?

  • John

    HSBC is not as user-friendly as ING, but there are a lot of nice features. Regarding the $3 transaction fee, that fee does not apply to online savings accounts. To set up bank to bank transfers, you need to contact their customer support and they will bypass atm code for you. It’s really quite quick and simple. One advantage to HSBC is the ability to have an HSBC checking account. This is great and allows you to hold more money at a higher interest rate. This brings me to my last point. HSBC offers a higher rate 5.05% vs 4.35% (ING). That is quite a substantial difference. I must admit that there are many features in ING that are very appealing which is why I use both. You must decide whether you value a higer rate or ease of use.

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  • shaka

    HSBC charges $3 for transaction HSBC savings bank -> Local Bank.
    There is also limit to which you can transfer money in and out of HSBC. ING doesn’t have these hassles

  • Nadya

    Hi! Alex, I have below question regarding HSBC online saving account, hope you can give an answer as a long time comsumer.
    1. – Do these accounts allow to pay bills online? If yes, is this free?
    2. – Do they charge if you decide to close the account?
    3. – I plan to link online account to Washington Mutual account, does WaMu carges for transfers to/ from online direct account?
    Does anyone has a new promo code?

    Thank you : ))

  • Hannah

    Hi,

    I want to sign up HSBC direct now but do you know any promotion code for $25? I know 25pig already expired?
    Thanks.

    Hannah

  • http://www.coders2020.com Coders2020

    Though very old post but still just wanted to ask the question, Do you have any idea about HSBC India and there offerings ? will surely help me :)

  • Max

    Is a new promotion code available for 2008?