Ok, so ING Direct's savings account is going up to 3.75% on September 1st. Now HSBC is trying to keep up by going up to 3.75% also.
I suppose none of this really matters since PC Financial is still ahead of the pack. I just hope that PC Financial will move up to 4.25% for no good reason. But as long as I'm dreaming, I may as well hope I win the lottery. :)
Showing posts with label hsbc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hsbc. Show all posts
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
August is Expensive And Other Random Crap
August is going to be expensive because my lease is up at the end of the month and my job is going to be over, so I'm going to be picking up and moving again, this time to another city. The car rental place told me it would cost $80 to rent a car for a day, plus the cost of gas.
I'm going to be starting another job in two weeks' time. I've been spoiled the last while because my current job has a very relaxed dress code. I usually wear a tank top, a tshirt over it, and jeans. But my new job is much more corporate so I'm going to have to start investing in actual work appropriate pieces. I guess it's about time; in a year I'll be done school anyway!
Today I picked up a pair of pants for $19.99, marked down from $89.99. I'm happy because I already had the matching blazer and pencil skirt as my one expensive interview suit. I also got a dress slip today that I've been watching like a hawk. For the last few weeks, I would walk in the store once a week on the way home to see if they had gone on sale. They went from $24.99 down to $19.99 and then down again to $11.99 today, so I finally picked one up.
In other news, I'm so not loving HSBC right now because they take way too long to transfer money. The other thing is that their website is pretty vague and not as straight forward as ING's. I might just keep my money in ING after all that hassle.
Lastly... I am almost done writing my undergraduate thesis! I plan on treating myself to something, but I'm not sure what. We'll see.
I'm going to be starting another job in two weeks' time. I've been spoiled the last while because my current job has a very relaxed dress code. I usually wear a tank top, a tshirt over it, and jeans. But my new job is much more corporate so I'm going to have to start investing in actual work appropriate pieces. I guess it's about time; in a year I'll be done school anyway!
Today I picked up a pair of pants for $19.99, marked down from $89.99. I'm happy because I already had the matching blazer and pencil skirt as my one expensive interview suit. I also got a dress slip today that I've been watching like a hawk. For the last few weeks, I would walk in the store once a week on the way home to see if they had gone on sale. They went from $24.99 down to $19.99 and then down again to $11.99 today, so I finally picked one up.
In other news, I'm so not loving HSBC right now because they take way too long to transfer money. The other thing is that their website is pretty vague and not as straight forward as ING's. I might just keep my money in ING after all that hassle.
Lastly... I am almost done writing my undergraduate thesis! I plan on treating myself to something, but I'm not sure what. We'll see.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
HSBC Direct Ready to Go
I looked at my blog on another computer and it looked horribly ugly, with LIME GREEN and shades of orange and whatnot. It looked funky on my computer, but oh well, I changed the layout to something else that was more universally appealing. On another note, I also need to go and check out these other blogs of amazing people who leave me comments! It's so exciting. It's like Christmas Day every time I log on here.
Anyway, on to topic. I signed up for HSBC Direct when I found out their interest rate is at 5.00%. It's promotional, but I decided to sign up anyway. Let me talk about this confusing process.
First, I went on this site and clicked on start application. I filled out the application online. I don't think they have a paper application. Anyways, after a whole bunch of questions, they ask to print off a signature sheet and mail them in a cheque with the initial deposit. The cheque had to have my name and address on it. I also needed to write down my confirmation number on the cheque. I had to mail it in to Vancouver, which is pretty far from where I am, so I decided to wait a week before getting nervous. It took in total almost two weeks before I saw the cheque cashed in my regular bank account. I don't like having my money floating out there, so I was nervous.
You'll notice that I had no way of knowing that my account was set up unless I saw my cheque cashed in my bank account. I didn't get a phone call, email, or letter sent to my home.
Next, I was wondering how I would be able to log on to the account online... Well, after searching the FAQs on the website, I found out I have to set up personal internet banking to do this! But to do that, I need a Personal Identification Number (PIN). How did I get that? I had to call in 1-877-621-8811 and after pressing a bunch of buttons, found an actual person to speak to. I found out that to set up personal internet banking, I also need the last ten digits of my bank card. But wait! What bank card? So the guy on the phone ended up having to tell me the last ten digits of my bank card as well as a temporary PIN. At this point, I'm getting confused. Anyway, so he finishes telling me what to do and puts me back on their phone system, where I punch in my temporary PIN and put in a new PIN. So now what?
After pushing a couple more buttons and getting nowhere, I hung up and got on HSBC Direct's online banking website. I plugged in my PIN and the last ten digits of the bank card that the guy on the phone told me. Then they ask me for more security questions! So after I fill those out, I'm able to finally log on to my account. There, I see my savings account and the $100 I deposited.
Next, I wanted to transfer over some more money... Well, their navigation looks like this:
First I clicked on Transfers, but that got me nowhere, so I clicked on Bank to Bank Transfers. (You might be thinking "Duh!" at this point, but man, I was tired and confused.) Clicking on Bank to Bank Transfers finally allowed me to transfer more money from my bank account to my HSBC direct account. I did that yesterday, and nothing has shown up yet on either bank account, so I'm hoping I did it right and waiting to see what else happens...
Man this was a confusing process.
Anyway, on to topic. I signed up for HSBC Direct when I found out their interest rate is at 5.00%. It's promotional, but I decided to sign up anyway. Let me talk about this confusing process.
First, I went on this site and clicked on start application. I filled out the application online. I don't think they have a paper application. Anyways, after a whole bunch of questions, they ask to print off a signature sheet and mail them in a cheque with the initial deposit. The cheque had to have my name and address on it. I also needed to write down my confirmation number on the cheque. I had to mail it in to Vancouver, which is pretty far from where I am, so I decided to wait a week before getting nervous. It took in total almost two weeks before I saw the cheque cashed in my regular bank account. I don't like having my money floating out there, so I was nervous.
You'll notice that I had no way of knowing that my account was set up unless I saw my cheque cashed in my bank account. I didn't get a phone call, email, or letter sent to my home.
Next, I was wondering how I would be able to log on to the account online... Well, after searching the FAQs on the website, I found out I have to set up personal internet banking to do this! But to do that, I need a Personal Identification Number (PIN). How did I get that? I had to call in 1-877-621-8811 and after pressing a bunch of buttons, found an actual person to speak to. I found out that to set up personal internet banking, I also need the last ten digits of my bank card. But wait! What bank card? So the guy on the phone ended up having to tell me the last ten digits of my bank card as well as a temporary PIN. At this point, I'm getting confused. Anyway, so he finishes telling me what to do and puts me back on their phone system, where I punch in my temporary PIN and put in a new PIN. So now what?
After pushing a couple more buttons and getting nowhere, I hung up and got on HSBC Direct's online banking website. I plugged in my PIN and the last ten digits of the bank card that the guy on the phone told me. Then they ask me for more security questions! So after I fill those out, I'm able to finally log on to my account. There, I see my savings account and the $100 I deposited.
Next, I wanted to transfer over some more money... Well, their navigation looks like this:
First I clicked on Transfers, but that got me nowhere, so I clicked on Bank to Bank Transfers. (You might be thinking "Duh!" at this point, but man, I was tired and confused.) Clicking on Bank to Bank Transfers finally allowed me to transfer more money from my bank account to my HSBC direct account. I did that yesterday, and nothing has shown up yet on either bank account, so I'm hoping I did it right and waiting to see what else happens...Man this was a confusing process.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Chasing Interest Rates
I recently found out about HSBC's new online savings account, which is just like ING Direct's online banking system. ING right now is at 4.25% whereas HSBC is at 5.00%--although both are at promotional rates and go back down to 3.50% afterwards.
The funny thing about these differences in interest rates (0.75%) is that it's really not that much. Unless you have a boatload of cash sitting around, chasing interest rates isn't necessarily that worth it, in my opinion. I feel like it's those people who line up at the gas station just cause gas is under a dollar. Let's say gas is usually about $1.03 per litre, and today you see it's at $0.99 per litre. People go, "wow! It's under a dollar!" and go and fill up. Well, suppose that's four cents savings for a 30 litre tank. That's saving $1.20 by filling up there. I'm sure somebody will say, oh, $1.20 adds up and whatnot, but filling up at those times probably requires waiting three times as long to fill up because of the long lines. In the same way, unless you have $10 000 to park in a savings account, the interest rate difference from 4.25% to 5.00% isn't really much.
However, I'm a student, and I have student loan debt looming over my head everyday. I also have all of my assets pretty liquid because I am saving for my exchange term next year. So, 0.75% interest is a big deal to me.
I've had an account with ING Direct for awhile now. (Leave me a message and I'll refer you so we can each get $13!) I love banking with them because they make everything so simple. Whenever I call them, I don't have to wait long to get a person to speak to instead of a machine. And I always get high interest rates with them.
I just signed up for the HSBC savings account last week and I'm just waiting while the account starts up. I'm not sure what's supposed to happen and I'm confused already. Basically I don't know when my account is set up until I notice they've cashed my initial deposit. Then I'm supposed to call them, I think... I'm going to write more about it once I figure out what's going on.
The funny thing about these differences in interest rates (0.75%) is that it's really not that much. Unless you have a boatload of cash sitting around, chasing interest rates isn't necessarily that worth it, in my opinion. I feel like it's those people who line up at the gas station just cause gas is under a dollar. Let's say gas is usually about $1.03 per litre, and today you see it's at $0.99 per litre. People go, "wow! It's under a dollar!" and go and fill up. Well, suppose that's four cents savings for a 30 litre tank. That's saving $1.20 by filling up there. I'm sure somebody will say, oh, $1.20 adds up and whatnot, but filling up at those times probably requires waiting three times as long to fill up because of the long lines. In the same way, unless you have $10 000 to park in a savings account, the interest rate difference from 4.25% to 5.00% isn't really much.
However, I'm a student, and I have student loan debt looming over my head everyday. I also have all of my assets pretty liquid because I am saving for my exchange term next year. So, 0.75% interest is a big deal to me.
I've had an account with ING Direct for awhile now. (Leave me a message and I'll refer you so we can each get $13!) I love banking with them because they make everything so simple. Whenever I call them, I don't have to wait long to get a person to speak to instead of a machine. And I always get high interest rates with them.
I just signed up for the HSBC savings account last week and I'm just waiting while the account starts up. I'm not sure what's supposed to happen and I'm confused already. Basically I don't know when my account is set up until I notice they've cashed my initial deposit. Then I'm supposed to call them, I think... I'm going to write more about it once I figure out what's going on.
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