Banking - HSBC or RBC?

[jamesy2]

Hi,

Has anyone had experience with either HSBC or RBC? i am in the UK and decided to open a canadian HSBC account as they allow you to half open an account before you arrive. This process though has been a nightmare and i have had a lot of bad information from them which has wasted my time. I understand RBC offer a similar service to open an account before you arrive in Canada.

Have i just been unlucky so far witch HSBC or are RBC a better bank to go with?

 

[cansha]

Hi,

Has anyone had experience with either HSBC or RBC? i am in the UK and decided to open a canadian HSBC account as they allow you to half open an account before you arrive. This process though has been a nightmare and i have had a lot of bad information from them which has wasted my time. I understand RBC offer a similar service to open an account before you arrive in Canada.

Have i just been unlucky so far witch HSBC or are RBC a better bank to go with?

All banks in Canada have similar good/bad level of service and if you see online all banks have consistent bad ratings online. So, if HSBC was bad go ahead and try out RBC and hope for a better experience.

I have seen many posts here of people trying to open a bank account before arriving. I don't think it really helps that much. You can't use the funds that you transfer and the bank will ask you to visit a branch in person whenever you are in Canada. If you have to visit a branch in person regardless you can simply open the account when you come here and open in a branch that is nearest to where you will live.

 

[jamesy2]

All banks in Canada have similar good/bad level of service and if you see online all banks have consistent bad ratings online. So, if HSBC was bad go ahead and try out RBC and hope for a better experience.

I have seen many posts here of people trying to open a bank account before arriving. I don't think it really helps that much. You can't use the funds that you transfer and the bank will ask you to visit a branch in person whenever you are in Canada. If you have to visit a branch in person regardless you can simply open the account when you come here and open in a branch that is nearest to where you will live.

Yes it is very limited but with my bank in the UK, they will only let you do large money transfers in branch, which is no good for me when im in Canada.

I don’t want to risk doing a large transfer when i arrive in Canada and my UK bank freezing my account and asking me to come into the branch in person to authorize it which i am 99% sure will happen

 

[steaky]

Yes it is very limited but with my bank in the UK, they will only let you do large money transfers in branch, which is no good for me when im in Canada.

I don’t want to risk doing a large transfer when i arrive in Canada and my UK bank freezing my account and asking me to come into the branch in person to authorize it which i am 99% sure will happen

Then try HSBC Advance or Premier. You can internet transfer your funds (for free) between Canada and UK as long as you keep both bank accounts in both countries.

 

[Bacelor]

RBC account opening is ver smooth
However funds transfer is a nightmare
DO NOT TRANSFER ALL YOUR CASH FIRST AND ONCE
Simply it will get stuck before you arrive
Do a test transfer first