Are bank charges too high?
HSBC's unconscionable act of massively increasing the threshold for fee-free banking for PowerVantage account holders has rightly been condemned by many letter writers to this page. There is a further disturbing detail that has not yet been mentioned.
MPF accounts are included in the 'total relationship balance' that HSBC uses to calculate whether the threshold for fee-free banking has been met. From the marketing point of view this is odd because the choice of an MPF provider is made by the employer and not by the individual employee. Pity the poor PowerVantage account holder whose employer does not channel MPF funds in HSBC's direction; he or she is going to find it that much more burdensome to meet the threshold.
And think of the temptations facing a finance director and PowerVantage account holder whose company currently uses an alternative MPF provider. Why not persuade the board to switch to HSBC and get fee-free banking? Makes you think what other sweeteners HSBC is throwing around to keep the MPF funds flowing in.
Could someone from the Mandatory Provident Fund Authority please comment.
Shame on HSBC and I do hope that someone takes up Ashok Rungta's suggestion (April 27) of co-ordinated action. A few people closing their accounts won't matter to HSBC at all. If we could get a few thousand people each with HK$100,000 in their account to all close their accounts on the same day, then it might cause a slight stutter in HSBC's progress.