Household HSBC Watch

Adjustable rates will reset this summer and fall. The timing reflects the height of subprime lending in the summers of 2005 and 2006, when many borrowers secured loans scheduled to adjust in two or three years. For many, an adjustment means their interest rate will go up two to three percentage points. HSBC […]

Recently we received complaints about many merchant credit cards managed by HSBC. In fact we receive reports weekly, but we wonder about HSBC Finance and the HSBC technology. One customer said “I went on line two days before my bill was due to pay it and was told that I had to pay […]

AK in Oregon sent this op-ed piece. We are publishing it here instead of in our complaints blog:
“HSBC- predatory lenders who slam insurance, offer over market rates and fees, and treat employees with disrespect.

When I started working at HFC I was just out of college. I was excited to have a job […]

Neiman Marcus has settled a lawsuit with HSBC Finance, the operational unit of HSBC formerly known as Household International. The lawsuit pertained to private label credit cards - the cards issued by HSBC Finance (HSBC NV) containing the Neiman Marcus name instead of HSBC’s name. Part of HSBC’s private label credit card agreements […]

Cassandra was the young and beautiful daughter of Priam, the last king of Troy. Apollo bestowed upon Cassandra a special gift—the ability to see the future. The problem with the gift was she could see the future but could not do anything about it. Analysts and economists said for many years that […]

Neiman Marcus is facing off with HSBC Finance - formerly known as predatory lender Household International. What do Neiman Marcus customers have in common with subprime, predatory lending, and late application of payments? Absolutely nothing, but Neiman Marcus selected HSBC Finance as their private label credit card processor. We questioned the move […]

Customers of HSBC experience the highest rates of identity theft in the banking industry, according to an investigative study released Wednesday by a UC Berkeley Law School researcher. HSBC is clearly in the lead. Through an extensive Freedom of Information Act request, Chris Hoofnagle, a staff attorney at UC Berkeley’s Boalt School of […]

HSBC’s mortgage-related troubles may not be over, however. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Roy Ramos, wrote on November 24 that the bank may have to write down an additional $12 billion at its Household International Inc. unit. The bigger the banking institution, the bigger the clean up (excerpt). HSBC’s credit card business may also […]

Another HSBC merchant is going out of busiiness. CompUSA, the computer retailer that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim owned since 2000, will shut its doors after 23 years, succumbing to competition from Best Buy Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. On the CompUSA website it says “Same as Cash offer on approved purchases made on […]

HSBC made strong inroads into Viet Nam and is selling Islamic insurance in developing Islamic countries. Meanwhile in the United States HSBC, thanks to HSBC Finance, is making life miserable for Americans. Does this sound like a plot to an anti-western movie? You bet it does. HSBC - in my family […]