HSBC Declines Internet Entrepreneurship Bank Account

My First Business Decision to Open an HSBC Business Direct Account Turned Out To Be a Wrong One

First Published Date : April 25, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

I have incorporated my Internet Activities in December, 2010. All my websites and domains are now under my new corporation A Dawn Dot Net Corp. – a Canadian federally incorporated business entity. How long does it take to federally incorporate a business in Canada? You will be surprised to know that it took me only slightly more than 24 hours to start my new corporation. How long does it take you to open a business account in Canada? Well, it all depends on which bank you pick. My first business decision choosing HSBC Canada to open my business account turned out to be a bad decision and became a nightmare. After leaving me hanging for 3 weeks, they told me that they would have to decline my application as they did not know what Internet Entrepreneurship was because they never dealt with this type of business before. Today, I will give you some insights into how my first wrong business decision to open a free HSBC Business Direct Account caused pain and agony.

Week 1

I walked into an HSBC branch located on 1940 Eglinton Avenue East in Toronto to apply for a Business Direct account. I was told by the branch that for this account I had to apply online and the branch was unable to provide me any help. So, I returned home and applied online. I was told on the confirmation email that I should hear from an HSBC Business Banking representative within 1 business day. However, 3 or 4 days passed and I did not receive any emails or calls from anyone regarding my application status. Finally, I ended up calling their business customer service. The business banking representative was friendly and apologized for not getting back to me. He interviewed me intensely regarding Internet entrepreneurship. I had to explain to him what a domain is, how we make money from ads on websites, the various faces of Internet entrepreneurship and much more. I had to show him a few of my websites and after a long conversation he seemed to be satisfied. He mentioned that I should be hearing from someone at the branch to visit and produce my corporate documents once my account is approved and that it should not take more than 2-3 days. A point worth mentioning is that I received a bankcard from HSBC in the mail even without even having my bank account approved.

Week 2

About 5 days passed and so far I did not receive any calls or emails from anyone. My Cuba trip was approaching, so I decided to call HSBC business customer service again. To my surprise, this rep asked me the same questions I was asked by the first rep. So I had to explain everything to him all over again. It was like a job interview. I was getting a little agitated. However, he apologized for the delay and mentioned that it should not take more than 2-3 days to get an answer. I mentioned to him that I would be in Cuba for a week. He assured me that I should have an answer before I return.

Week 3

Upon returning from Cuba, I checked my email and Canada Post mail box for any correspondence from HSBC. There was nothing. No rejection notice, no acceptance notice, no nothing. I called their business banking number again. This time, I summarized what happened so far so he did not have to start interviewing me again on Internet entrepreneurship. After listening to me, he mentioned that HSBC never dealt with business bank accounts for Internet entrepreneurship before and they are unable to issue a business bank account. I should be receiving a formal rejection letter within the next few days from HSBC. This rejection letter came to me after 2 weeks, not after a few days. And the funny thing is, although they declined opening an account for me, I still have been receiving a statement every month from HSBC. Their one department keeps issuing a monthly statement not knowing that other department declined my account. I am attaching a copy of this statement on top left of this post.

Final Word

I wasted all of December trying to open a bank account with HSBC Bank Canada. When I went to RBC Royal Bank to open a business account, they managed to do that in one day. I regretted going to HSBC the first time. HSBC claims to be “The World’s Local Bank.” However, they are far from providing world-class service to be considered the world’s local bank.