Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts

Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by KRAKRISMOTT on Sunday November 05, 2023 @09:58PM (#38158269)

For pseudo private banking, HSBC Premier is decent if you travel often to Europe or Asia. They are basically Wise for HNWs with a dash of money laundering thrown in.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by gnicholas on Sunday November 05, 2023 @10:11PM (#38158360)

Looks like they have a $50 monthly account maintenance fee, unless you have $75k on deposit, a qualifying mortgage, or $5k in monthly direct deposit. I guess the latter is the easiest, but this is significantly more onerous than any bank I've looked at.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by KRAKRISMOTT on Sunday November 05, 2023 @11:19PM (#38158806)

$75K/$5K per month is a very low threshold for private banking, other banks usually require somewhere in the three digits range.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by gnicholas on Sunday November 05, 2023 @11:24PM (#38158850)

What's the additional value beyond what you'd get with a standard checking account? As GP said, this is like pseudo-private banking. [1]

1: https://www.us.hsbc.com/checking-accounts/products/premier/

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by KRAKRISMOTT on Monday November 06, 2023 @01:38AM (#38159530)

You get priority support for telephone banking and you get a dedicated account manager (not sure if it's a fully accredited banker). You are automatically classified as one of the highest tiered customers for them and can get preferred rates etc. on many other services. Aside from HNW individuals, they also traditionally cater to "expats", which is a fancy British word for high income white collar professionals/digital nomads who either travel frequently or have foreign residencies for business. You can easily create accounts at overseas branches with same Premier privileges and (possibly credit history transfer too) and fund transfers between accounts are free, though I believe their conversion rates are not necessarily as competitive as a proper brokerage like Interactive Brokers. HSBC's premier service has been around long before the likes of Transferwise.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by michaelt on Monday November 06, 2023 @05:00AM (#38160619)

> they also traditionally cater to "expats", which is a fancy British word for high income white collar professionals/digital nomads who either travel frequently or have foreign residencies for business.

"Expats" is also used for elderly retirees moving to the Costa Del Sol, so IME it's not a particularly high-income or white-collar term.

Now, if you were talking about "non-doms" that would be a different matter :)

Of course, I agree that a bank accustomed to dealing with expatriates would probably be understanding of someone spending a lot of time in another country.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by shapefrog on Monday November 06, 2023 @06:41AM (#38161263)

"non-doms" are rich foreigners in England, immigrants are poor/average foreigners in England.

Expats are all English when they are outside the UK - be they retired in Spain or living / working in Dubai / Asia / Australia.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Why Banks Are Suddenly Closing Down Customer Accounts by robocat on Sunday November 05, 2023 @11:31PM (#38158882)

Private banking can be easier in other countries, so long as you're not a US citizen. e.g. New Zealanders https://www.anz.co.nz/personal/private-bank/

  high net worth New Zealanders from a diverse range of backgrounds. Typically our clients have at least $1.5 million to invest, or significant lending with a personal annual income of $400,000 or more. *Additional income criteria may apply

[ Parent | on HN ]