Household HSBC Watch

Seen in the Telegraph: “An update on the race to become the first head of a major UK bank to get the chop. Earlier this week Diary discovered that Paddy Power was running odds on which of RBS, HBOS, HSBC and Barclays would be first to lose their chief exec. The hot money was on Sir Fred “the Shred” Goodwin, the combative chief of RBS.”

It appears that major banks that have a finance company attachment are doing much worse than banks that do not have such an alliance. For instance all banks with whom we, and our friends, have active credit card accounts are known for sending “balance transfer” offers. Banks that are losing money do not send good viable offers. Who wants a deal that touts “zero percent for six weeks”? Who is that stupid?

On the other hand, banks that are more upscale and reputable are sending good valid offers that benefit the customer. In the U.K. some of those banks are based in the United States, have finance company holdings, and do not have anything to offer. Sorry HSBC, Citi, and others - but many would prefer to transfer your balances elsewhere.