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.
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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.
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.