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I got an email last night from HSBC asking me to take a survey on how they can improve their online savings account.
In addition to taking the survey, I thought I'd share my thoughts in the blog and let you chime in, too.
As I've noted before, it seems to take forever for transfers to go in and out of HSBC. They say it takes three business days — in the instant gratification world of the Internet, that's just too long.
Cut it down to one business day, HSBC, and let us earn interest quicker.
HSBC can also improve their security methods. Needing to log on with a username, password, and security key (with that annoying "virtual keyboard") is a lot. Not that I don't want to be secure — I do — but that extra step of the security key is a pain.
HSBC, can you use something like Bank of America's Sitekey? That seems to work well, and doesn't involve any extra work on my part.
Finally, I'd tell them to update their online security tips; they're a bit outdated.
Beyond that, HSBC is doing a great job. They seem to have a found a great mix of brick and mortar and online offerings — combining the flexibility and ease of online banking with a large network of ATMs.
The site key has really turned me off on the HSBC site. I forgot what it was and tried to reset it.
I was then sent an email with an authentication reference number. To log back on, I'd have to call someone.
Sigh. So I did. And after playing the "Push 1 to do this thing" game, I finally reached a customer service rep.
I had to answer a series of questions related to the account (when did I open it, how did I open it, etc.) and finally he confirmed my reference number.
He then had me log on to the site again, and when I got to the site key, I froze. I completely forgot what it was.
"UGH," I moaned. "I don't remember what it is now. Can you help me?"
Of course they cannot. They have no idea what it is. Luckily, the first guess I made was the right one, avoiding me having to go through the reseting process all over again.
So I wrote down the password and sitekey in a file saved on my computer. This is clearly a terrible idea, but the risk beats the hassle of having to get a new site key or password.
I really like the new sites that have you answer a bunch of random questions like when did you graduate, what was your first car, etc. Those are answers few people (if any) would get right and I would never forget.
Until HSBC improves its log in, I'll probably just let my $200 deposit grow without any new ones, and continue using ING even though the interest is slightly less.