HSBC computer error is ruining my life. Why you shouldn’t bank with them.

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I’m desperate for any advice on this it’s been a massive stress and I just can’t see the end of it.

In May I got a notification saying my credit card had been added to an Apple wallet. Because it wasn’t me I cancelled the card then I called HSBC who said there was no fraud it was a computer glitch. Nevermind I think. I noticed the credit card didn’t come back onto my HSBC banking app and I called a couple of times and they didn’t seem to understand my issue on the phone and thought the card was lost in post but I don’t think it was ever generated. I figured it would sort itself out when the automated didecf debit was due or id sort it out after my holiday.

On holiday I suddenly get a notification saying my credit card is overdue. I panic and transfer £50 to stop the notification and then I call hsbc intending to pay off the whole balance. I’ve actually no idea how much it is but I’ve got plenty in my account to cover it. Person on the phone was clueless. Tried to setup a payment to pay of the minimum balance of a different credit card. Eventually tells me that I don’t owe anything on the late credit card , in fact , they owe me money due to a refund I got on something after I’d paid the balance off.

So long story short, I have spent hours and hours on the phone to hsbc, have logged an official complaint and have spoken with them over email and it’s not sorted. They keep saying I don’t owe any money, I don’t think I do but if I’m wrong I’ll pay it , but something in the system has been generated which says I do, but I can’t pay it because it doesn’t exist.

Both my hsbc credit cards are now closed, and the day after they did so I get a new banking notification saying I owe £1,576 and have two credit card missed payments. I have checked Experian and yes, it shows I’ve missed credit card payment with HSBC and it’s damaged my credit rating. Meanwhile the last
email contact at hsbc is saying I don’t owe anymore money and to ignore any correspondence saying I do. He isn’t listening to me when I say something in his computer system clearly says I do. He even said he’d put a note on my file to make sure nothing affected my credit rating.

I have written to the ombudsman but that’ll take months, is there anything else I can do? I am worried hsbc will just tell ombudsman it’s sorted and closed and I don’t owe anything meanwhile this bill keeps growing.

We are trying to buy a house. We were in the process
of it when this started. That house fell through but we can’t find a new house/get a mortgage whilst I’ve got this on my credit record!

I also have a job where I need security/financial clearance and this is causing me so much stress.

I I’m desperate to escalate this but don’t know how.

I used to work in banking but did find this hard to follow. I also think you need to access the statements going back a few months - you seem to now have 2 different HSBC credit card account numbers?

I also think I would try to make an appointment in branch as soon as someone else has suggested. Although it is possible these days that they will just send you back to the credit card customer services number but it’s worth a try.

The bank won’t “close” an account whilst there is still a balance on it even if the card has been stopped.

I also recommend Felicity Hannah, she does a lot of cases like this and a quick search shows her website

Although I’d understand it if you never want to give HSBC another penny of your money, OP, I’d highly recommend First Direct.

IME no matter how complex or confusing the issue, their people will always get to the bottom of it and do their utmost to help. You’re never left feeling like you’re talking to a wall.

It astonishes me that two branches of the same organisation can be so wildly different in both competence and customer service.

Do you have a balance on a HSBC credit card (due to your spending) that hasn’t been paid off by you?

It’s not clear from your message. Your OP implies you do.

If your first mortgage was with HSBC they often don't run a credit check if you continue with them - I didn't have one when I did this (also HSBC)

I started with two HSBC credit cards (I only really used one, I had two because I signed up for some points reward thing) one of my credit cards was replaced as normal. It’s paid of and now closed.

i have tried to be succinct in my posts because its a long and boring story. But essentially:

Credit card was cancelled because I thought it had been frauded. Turns out this was a false alarm. Mild inconvenience not a big deal. Both card accounts disappear when I cancelled them from my online banking but the hassle free one reappears the next day and then comes in post 3 days later. Other card doesn’t reappear in post or online banking. I ring twice/use online chat to find out where it’s gone and they keep saying it must be lost in post and will reorder it. I don’t think this is right because if it was just lost in post it would appear in online banking but customer service doesn’t understand what I’m saying. I figure it’ll probably magically reappear when the direct debit is due. I can’t download any credit card statements because it’s no longer on my online banking. It gets paid of in full at the end of the month so I dont tend to worry about how much is on it but I don’t think it’s much.

i go on holiday, on my holiday I get a notification saying my credit card is overdue. I can’t pay it online because it’s not on my online banking. I transfer £50 to the old card number just to try and get rid of the notification then I call customer services intending to pay off the full balance whatever that might be and they don’t understand. I spend 45 minutes on the phone trying to make a payment and it’s only when they are the point of confirming payment is made I realise they are attempting to pay the minimum payment on the credit card that is no bother. She then “finds” the other credit card and said I don’t owe money, they owe me money because I had a refund on two expensive items. Great I think. They tell me this is why they haven’t been able to order the new card so will transfer me the £100 back and re order it.

I feel a bit uneasy so I book a branch appt for the first day back of my holiday. There isn’t an option for credit cards so I select “dormant accounts”. When I get there they say they can’t help me as credit cards is a separate dept/ systems that aren’t in branches I need to call. I insist I’m not leaving till it’s fixed which just ends with me calling credit cards services whilst a hsbc worker sits opposite of me and occasionally nods sympathetically. The online person doesn’t understand initially and can’t help, just keeps saying contradictory information like the card was never ordered, the card is lost in the post, the account doesn’t exist. He said there was a £50 credit on the account (my panic transfer) and he needed to send that back and the card should appear on my online banking within a day. The £50 came back but the card didn’t reappear

whilst on this phone for 2 hours, on the advice of hsbc branch worker I filed an official complaint as she said it’d be looked at properly.

15 days later I get a call from complaints team and initially I was relieved as he seemed to “get” it. Although I was quite pissed off of that they told me they were closing my complaint because they have to fix all complaints within 15 days. I pushed back on this but he said it was out of his hands but he’d still sort my issue. He raised a ticket with IT who said they couldn’t fix the issue but reiterated that I didn’t owe anything. The credit card was showing as -£50 because it recognised the money they’d sent back to me but not the initial receipt of it but they recognised this was their computer error and they corrected for that.

Complaints contact said I could either close the credit card and open a new account or I could just close the account. So I asked them to close both credit card accounts as I obviously don’t want any hsbc credit cards anymore. The day after they did this I get a notification on my online banking saying I now have two missed payments on my hsbc credit card and owe c. £1,500. I’ve sent a screen shot to hsbc and this is their reply:

“Good Afternoon
There is definitely no late payment or payment due as the cards were at 0 balance and have closed. I would delete any correspondence suggesting otherwise and from my side will raise a memo to reiterate no payments have been missed to ensure no negative or incorrect information is added to your credit file.
Regards
”

I emailed back the same day saying this is not an ok solution it’s clearly not sorted they need to fix it. I’ve also gone to ombudsman now but that takes months. then yesterday I checked Experian and yeah, I have a late payment marker on there for hsbc credit card. I’ve emailed back saying this and am waiting on a response but that’s only yesterday. But I don’t know what to do here. I don’t think I owe anything but if I do I can pay it. There’s enough in my hsbc current account to cover £1,500.

Hopefully longer post above this explains all. I don’t think I owe anything but if I did I have the funds to cover it. HSBC are telling me I’ve nothing to pay whilst simultaneously reporting me for missed payments.

You could also try contacting the credit reference agencies and ask for a notice of correction to be put in the late payment while this is being resolved.

I called HSBC yesterday and they were useless. I have a £25 credit on my card and wanted it refunded and to close the account. But I apparently put my dob in incorrectly (I def didn't!) 3 times so got put through to an agent. Who suggested I go into a branch. I said NFW.

So I will just wait and eventually they'll contact me to say "we've refunded you the £25 and closed your account because you haven't used it in 10 years" and that'll sort it. If it was more money I'd try again but I CBA.

Good luck OP.

Hi, I thought this as well but the auto generated letter saying my account is now closed states if I have outstanding balance on the credit card I should continue to pay it so that’s not the case. Although hsbc are telling me it was closed with 0 balance but simultaneously reporting me for missed credit card payments.

Former bank complaints handler here 👋

All you need to do is pick an email address from one of their senior leadership team explain the situation and attach the copy of your credit file. Their PA will forward it to their executive office within the complaint team and they’ll handle it within a day or two.

Dont forget to give them a telephone number and your usual available contact window.

Thank you I’ll see what I can find online.

Just quote or @ me if you need anything else.

My first thought is that there is potentially another card in your name that has been opened fraudulently. The credit file will have some details that the bank can use to identify the card though. As for a late payment, it would usually take a couple of months for these to show on credit file, so it would likely be from May, but this is speculation based on a limited amount of info because you of course can’t give too much here

Try martin lewis
Also go to the bank in person. Show them your credit score. Someone could have taken it out in your name and committed fraud. Also the fin ombudsman as above. Also try citizen's advice.

Have you contacted the fraud department? If they are saying they sent a card and you didn’t receive it - couldn’t it have gone to someone else who is using it?

The warning on my hsbc banking app shows the last 4 digits of the credit card which matches my old card ( the one they are telling me is 0 balance and closed). Otherwise I’d agree it was likely fraud. The first missed payment would have been start of June and Experian notes it as added on their system on 11th July so that fits with what you say. Obviously doesn’t fit with hsbc saying there are no late payment markers on their system so I can ignore the error.

edit: if you are able to help me find SLT emails I’d be grateful! Best I’ve found so far is head of audits LinkedIn.

When you say a ‘false alarm’ for the original reason for cancelling - how do you know it was a false alarm? Has someone actually spent on your old card number before it was cancelled?

Address it to:

• [email protected]

And copy in:

• [email protected]

Well it’s all quite tangled but the letter you’ve received seems pretty definitive,

possibly they sent you the £50 back as I think these days you are not allowed to hold a credit balance on credit cards. So maybe the card you sent the £50 to did have a had a zero balance and the £50 put it in credit so they returned it. But the letter says both of them doesn’t it?

could you ask for 3 months paper copy statements for each account if you can’t see them online?

It may be worth going onto Money Saving Expert Credit Club or similar and look at your reports. Those figures should be pretty up to date

I called HSBC after I cancelled the cards online because I was baffled as to how someone got hold of both my credit cards so I wanted to check if I needed to panic. They told me it was a computer glitch and the same notification had gone out to everyone who used Apple Pay. I got an email later confirming that from hsbc.

The complaints dept raised a ticket with IT and they came back saying that a card had never been generated. An error had occurred every time customer services had requested it and they couldn’t work out why or how to fix it. The options were to close the credit card and then reopen the account after a credit search or just close the account completely. I asked them to close the account completely because I was about 6 weeks in at this point and didn’t want any hsbc credit cards anymore!

How odd. I don’t have any suggestions I’m afraid! Hope you get it sorted soon.

BBC 4 ‘You and Yours’. Excellent people. Or try Martin Lewis’ website. There are people out there who will advocate for you. Get HSNC to remove three mark on your credit report, they absolutely can even if they say they cannot. A note isn’t enough.