Household HSBC Watch

Customers of H and R Block’s rapid refund program said their banks would not cash their refund anticipation checks. - see more -

Checks were issued by Block’s bank, HSBC, an international bank formed out of the former Household International and other organizations. In 1998, Block and HSBC, then known as Household Bank, were sued in Chicago over high costs and kickbacks involving tax refund anticipation loans.

The federal class-action lawsuit, which is still pending, accused them of charging excessively high fees in their refund anticipation loans, along with failure to disclose a kickback fee Household Bank paid to Block for setting up the loans.