HSBC For 1 to 9 Employees

The below comments were given by respondents who gave the bank a medium overall score (see glossary for more details).

• "Non-existent, because we don't have anything to do with HSBC and they've also moved." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It is just normal. All banks seem to be the same. They provide a service and you use it." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They provide a limited service." Southern England; Construction
• "It is satisfactory and suits our purpose and needs." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "It is ok but not spectacular." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Variable. Parts of it are excellent and parts of it are terrible. The key is who you get on the other line of the phone." Northern England; Construction
• "It's non supportive." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "It's mediocre. They have a poor lack of responding for any queries that we have. They take too long to deal with issues." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "I'm quite satisfied because they always do what I tell them to." Wales; Transportation and storage
• "Satisfactory for what my current business needs." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "The service is satisfactory." Wales; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Adequate." Southern England; Construction
• "They are slightly better than other banks, as I have a low opinion of banks in general and they provide a better service." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It's average. Don't use them for anything else. Have no issues." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "Reasonable." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "No complaints." Southern England; Construction
• "They're not particularly helpful or unhelpful. They're just okay." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "It's okay but I wouldn't say it's a wonderful service." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "Works smoothly and had no problems because we have never needed anything." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "More than adequate." Northern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Well I suppose probably like the rest of them. Probably average." Northern England; Construction
• "Arm's length. They don't talk to me unless I talk to them." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "They answer questions if I ask them." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Well I'd say that they're fairly reasonable compared to other banks." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "Adequate. They are helpful when you go them; they are not proactive." Southern England; Construction
• "Bank is very adequate." Northern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "It's fairly standard. Sufficiently efficient." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "They are not proactive." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "I think it's there if you need it. I don't use it often enough." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "A reliable service that always offers and never lets you down." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "I would say that it is just above average, really, and that is it." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "The services are adequate for the company." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are very good. Very supportive helping our business." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "It was an easy process and efficient." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "It is adequate and acceptable. Good services." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "For the business, no help at all." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "Very easy and uncomplicated. Just runs along without any hitches." Southern England; Construction
• "Not overly helpful. They do not freely provide advice or service." Southern England; Construction
• "It's good." Wales; Other Service Activities
• "The service is average." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Well the charges are very extortionate." Southern England; Construction
• "It is really normal. I do not have anything else to say, really." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "It's efficient and I have no problems with it." Northern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "Usually they are pretty okay, but recently I have been trying to open another account and the service has been poor." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Satisfactory. Convenience. Locality." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It's reasonable." Northern England; Construction
• "It's just a basic account." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "They are understanding to a point." Northern England; Construction
• "I think they are expensive." Wales; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "It is good. We have had no problems." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "Standard service that is no different to consumer account, however as a business account it is charged a fee." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "Personally think it is good for business, however some of their charges are high compared to other banks." Northern England; Construction
• "Now I've been adopted into a mercenary approach whereas before they were a working partner." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "I'm not happy about paying £1.30 to pay a cheque in, and recently, in January, I tried to open a business bank account for a client and it's still ongoing two and a half months later. So on that basis I'm not happy to recommend them at the moment. I have had other experiences with other banks, but not quite to this extent." Wales; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They're relatively efficient but not tremendously customer focused." Wales; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "We have a local branch [and I'm] so happy with that." Wales; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "Pretty average." Southern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "Good customer service." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Pretty good." Northern England; Construction
• "Uneventful and basically [I] do not have any problems with them." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "[A] bit better than what it was 12 months ago." Southern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "It's good. It's alright." Southern England; Construction
• "I am a little disappointed. Internal communication with the bank is not great." Southern England; Construction
• "[They] satisfied [my] need, [and offered] something with a more personal touch." Southern England; Mining & quarrying: Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management
• "They are sufficient. They are good." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "I'm satisfied with their ability to not make too many mistakes. Their response is not bad." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "Quite average." Southern England; Construction
• "Satisfactory. Nothing in particular that's good or bad." Southern England; Transportation and storage
• "Sufficient. [It's the] nearest bank to walk to." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I think they are first class." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "Very good but expensive." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It's a better than adequate service." Northern England; Mining & quarrying: Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management
• "[They're] always ending up dates. Pretty good." Wales; Other Service Activities
• "[I] don't really any problems with them." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Excellent. They're lovely, I used to work there so I know them all." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It is fine." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It's alright." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Excellent, [the] internet banking is best." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Satisfied with service, [it's] okay." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It's a [pleasure to] deal with them." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Perfectly adequate. Very nice account manager. It's not perfect, but it's good." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are not too bad." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "Fairly good, generally all okay." Southern England; Transportation and storage
• "Easy to contact and efficient to deal with." Southern England; Construction
• "I use them to put money in and out and they work that." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Very satisfactory and through their business centre, I am not restricted to banking hours." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "[I] have very little contact with them." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Consistent and [it] does what you need, although it is disappointing that we lost our local adviser." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "Adequate." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Do what we want from a bank without charging too much. Somewhere to put our money without them helping themselves to it." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Minimal. I don't get anything from them. I bank with them, and then I contact them. No other help is provided." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "They basically give the bare minimum and basic services." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They really are very quick. The customer service is very good, but they are not doing any information on food. Overall I am happy with them. I am less happy about the insurance, it seems to compare poorly with other insurance providers." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "Always helpful and always someone available on the phone after five minutes." Southern England; Construction
• "They can prove difficult at times. I find [it] frustrating and difficult to ask in regards to services." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "They are there if I need them. They don't pester me. When I need them I just go to a branch and they are very helpful. That's it." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "[It's] not too bad." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "Straightforward." Northern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "It is reasonable." Northern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "They are low-key. They don't bother me and we don't bother them, which I appreciate." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Overall quite good, although they've just started charging bank charges, which they never used to [do], and I'm not very happy about." Northern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "[They're] too expensive." Northern England; Construction
• "[I'm] not very happy with them." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "The branch staff are quite good [and] the website is good. The personal banker that we should have, the business banker, each client has a business banker, but they never ring back. That's not good. I don't really need them very much. We're very small." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "I don't feel I receive a service, just transaction services." Northern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "[It] doesn't meet my needs." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Straightforward." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Basic." Northern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "As little as they need to do." Northern England; Construction
• "It's helpful. They need to be helping you more, rather than you having to contact them." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They're pretty average. Because I'm not turning over loads of money, they are not really interested in me." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "It's okay." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "They are quick to react to your questions, and you can get to meet with the account manager when you want to." Northern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "I would say it's very satisfactory service with support when needed." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Adequate." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Very good, but room for a little improvement." Northern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "It fulfils our business requirements better than Barclays." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "I think they want to be helpful, but they don't really have the capability to work with companies as small as ours." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "I guess it's satisfactory, but they charge too much for minimal services, like paying in cash over the counter." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Very happy." Southern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "Not [a] bad bank, but they do not like lending to us as we are small, because we get so little profit. They are quick to take charges ,but not quick to help out." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "Easy to work with, and very helpful." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "They are very professional and helpful." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Adequate." Northern England; Construction
• "We're very happy. They provide what we need." Southern England; Construction
• "Efficient." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "Adequate." Southern England; Transportation and storage
• "Like any other bank, they can provide deposit and retrieval service." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Adequate at present. [I] would prefer free banking." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "They have been good about sorting out banking. They have not made a massive mess of anything." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Has been consistently good, but the increased the banking charges and refused to discuss it with me." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "Nothing special." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "Not very good. When we do overseas transfers, their charges are too expensive." Northern England; Mining & quarrying: Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management
• "Very good as far as the services we require, which are minimal." Southern England; Construction
• "We're very pleased with it. We don't have much trouble at all." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "I'm happy with it, but we don't go into depth with them." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "I am indifferent." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "Adequate. If you have to have a bank account, it does what it says on the tin." Northern England; Construction
• "They are an umbrella in the sunshine. Unless you have assets to cover yourself, they won't help you. When you have a problem, you have no chance of help, but when you don't have a problem, they show you all their offers for loans when you don't need it." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Adequate. Just adequate. Just use the website." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "They aren't bothered. We use them to put cheques in. Used to have an overdraft with them but stopped it 2 or 3 years ago because it was expensive." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Quite efficient, approachable. Phone system works. Internet banking. Not too much contact." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Good communication. They are fairly flexible for small businesses." Northern England; Construction
• "Average, nothing particularly excellent or terrible." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "They just supply us with a checking account. We don't use them for anything else." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "For key staff generally, which is good, staff is too frequent. Good office girls who are consistent, but managers are changing too much, so difficult to build up a relationship with." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "Pretty easy to deal with, quite straightforward. We haven't asked a lot of them. Service is fine, perfectly okay. Business loan request was treated positively." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are fine. Touch wood never had any problems. Have to shop around." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "Not really too involved, because I keep myself organised. Relatively good service." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Fairly good." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are average. They are just a bank. They don't do anything special. Not outstanding in any way." Northern England; Construction
• "I've only been with them 6 weeks, but I've had no problems." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "They are just easy to work with. They understand my needs and I have no problem to work with them at all." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Transaction purposes fine. Bare minimum, no real experience. Do not have much contact. No cash flow issues so do not need interaction." Northern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "It's gone downhill. It's downgrading our local branch. We no longer have the level of support we used to. I think their foreign exchange transaction fees are excessive." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "I just say they're okay and no problems at all. I don't know. They are nothing better than any other bank, not particularly, and nothing else. Satisfied with that." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Easily contactable and efficient. We receive all our paperwork on time, notification of charges on time." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They're okay." Southern England; Construction
• "I have nothing to compare them to and I am fairly happy. I am annoyed they closed the local branch." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "The best, adequate service, but expensive." Northern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "They do what banks are supposed to do. That's it." Southern England; Construction
• "They have been generally supportive. We've had no problems on our end but we've not caused trouble. However I am disappointed that they have closed our local branch, meaning we have to travel far to see anyone face to face. The limited nature of the company credit card means we can't use it on shops." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "I have got small loan and the charges are ridiculous. They are not very helpful. Customer service is not good at all. Whatever problem I get, I have to try and resolve it myself. They are not helpful." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It's [a] straightforward, simple service." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "Very good local branch and helpful staff." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are just a bank. Nothing special." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "I'm happy with services. They are reasonable. Quite happy with branch services overall." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Generally friendly and efficient Internet banking service." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They are efficient and we have had no issues with them." Scotland; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "It is minimal. All managers and people I have had contact with at HSBC are now redundant, so now we have little if any contact with them, so we have to do it all online." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It is average." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "It's a big bank. It has a branch in my very small town here." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Very basic facilities available at the branch. Also, there are £5 transactions fees, which is awful." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "No contact in recent months but they maintain the services I signed on with." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It's just a bank. Does what it's meant to do." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Fairly good, and had no problem with them. If I wanted anything then I got it." Northern England; Transportation and storage
• "The service I get is reliable and consistent. Nothing else to say really." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They're fairly good. They don't bother me, they keep their distance and are not really involved. The way I run things I don't think I have contacted them in the last nine months, so no grief with them." Northern England; Construction
• "It's alright. Difficult to contact people. International fees not great. I don't find online banking good for me." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "Very good service but we pay for it." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Say fairly good. No major issues. Required virtual terminal, HSBC would not give. They put them through another company, wouldn't link it together." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "The bank are just providing their services as they are, nothing more nothing less." Northern England; Real Estate Activities
• "Extremely limited service. Very low support, I don't hear anything from them. To be honest, I'm not that interested but I expected more feedback or information from them. Oh well, maybe that is just my high expectations." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Always been helpful. Easy appointments, easy online access." Southern England; Construction
• "I would say the service is not too bad. It's the services. For example, the charges which are a bit off. The bank functions are okay. The penalties for using them on turnover is quite a bit." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are not personal enough. If you need to survive, it's all on the computer. You never get to talk to anyone." Southern England; Education
• "Basically they just do our banking, we don't require anything else, not at this moment. They are usually pretty good and quite fair." Southern England; Construction
• "Minimal. No budget to top to. Take ages to take answers. Phone always with a strange person. Nobody cares about you. They don't appreciate your money anymore." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "They could be more proactive. Like if you have a good balance, they don't help you and tell you what would be best to do with it. Like I have no idea what to do with it, but they offer little help." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Perfectly adequate." Southern England; Mining & quarrying: Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management
• "[I] don't use any services other than Internet banking [and the] odd use in branch. No hassle. General service with little fuss." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "They're not too bad, but I would say probably they could do with a few more people on the ground than on the phone." Wales; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "It's a good service. The only thing is it charges you to pay cash into the business account. It's a local service and I can speak to someone over the counter. Or if I have a problem, I can contact them. I've never had a problem with them." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Online banking is very helpful to us, as our hours of work can be long. It's a good company to deal with." Southern England; Construction
• "A little better than Barclays, they understand commercial more." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "The staff are very friendly and helpful. The charges are quite expensive." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "All as bad as each other. If I had a choice, I wouldn't have a bank." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are very good, but they are progressively getting worse. It charges me more for less services." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I think it's very good. They're on the ball with online banking and security. I've had no problems." Northern England; Construction
• "It's a steady service, and they always help with problems if you have any, but they're not good on telling you news or things that might help your business." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "My particular situation has been good, and I have been with them for 40 years." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "We don't get much service from them, just a little, and we don't have much contact with them." Northern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Counter staff are friendly and helpful and they are important to me." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "There's little of anything." Southern England; Mining & quarrying: Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management
• "They just provide a normal banking facility to me." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "Apart from just using them as a bank, I don't really have any other contact with them." Southern England; Construction
• "I think it's professional, satisfactory, and competent." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They receive our money, they take what they want and we receive our money. We have no interactions." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "I would say they're alright, generally. Not that easy to get hold of a manager by phone." Wales; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "We use online services. We [are] happy with this. If not, we would go elsewhere." Southern England; Mining & quarrying: Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management
• "Fine as long as you don't want to borrow any money. Average service." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "I like the local branch. Same staff, so they get to know you." Northern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "It's [a] personal relationship, so they get things done for me." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It's adequate for our requirements." Southern England; Construction
• "Quite happy with the service." Northern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "I find that the British banking regulations are not observed, and if you're that old-fashioned, it's hard to believe." Northern England; Real Estate Activities
• "What we do have from them is pretty reasonable." Scotland; Transportation and storage
• "I can not fault their business, not bad. I just think they have got a very poor mortgage system." Wales; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "From my personal experiences, the customer service is very good." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They provide the service that I need. I don't experience many problems." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It is very good." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "They are reasonable." Southern England; Transportation and storage
• "It's a good banking service. I don't use it very much but when I do it works." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Adequate. It's just somewhere to keep the money." Northern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "The service you receive is very good, it is just that you get charges that do not make sense. You get charged for using their bank. For example, paying a cheque in or paying cash in." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I would say you always have to kill." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are quite good, but they keep swapping agricultural managers about. In the last 18 months I've had about 6." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are always very helpful and [I] do not have any problems with them. They are okay as long as you don't have any money problems." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "Very satisfactory." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "A necessary evil. You go to one business account to run it." Northern England; Construction
• "They have done what I needed them to do." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are [a] minimal service I use." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They've just been useful, and they are always there for advice when I need them." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Relatively good. No problems." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are adequate." Northern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "It is a lot more efficient than Barclays, because they could do what Barclays could not do." Wales; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "Stay clear of them." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I have never had any problems. Been with the 43 years." Southern England; Construction
• "I find it rather impersonal compared to years ago." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Good. They assist me when I need assistance." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "It's pretty good. Used to be a lot better when the business manager was in my local branch." Northern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "They are alright." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are satisfactory. I haven't had any problems with them." Southern England; Transportation and storage
• "Most banks are the same, where you can or can't live without them." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Unimaginative and pedestrian." Northern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "They are reasonably good." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "They are a good bank, and well, I would recommend them to try." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They're okay. Nothing special. Their Internet banking is quite good." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "Fantastic service, but not local." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "Good." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Minimal. They are just a typical bank. Sometimes they are not very pleasant and sometimes they are." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "The charges are very high for a very small business. The staff are very helpful." Northern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "Adequate overall. They don't excel and they're not bad enough for me to require change." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "For some of the specific requirements we have they are not great. We have an issue as we administer trade association. The process of the banking to get users approved is a pain. The world local bank can be very unhelpful." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "Bank that doesn't provide much except for banking services. Put money in the bank, and that's it." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They have pretty good banking." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "I can't compare [them] with any others as I have been with them for the last twenty years." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It's disproportionately expensive to the turnover of the business compared to the financial requirements provided to the business." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "[They are] adequate. They kind of do what I need them to do. I do have problems once in a while, which do [get] fixed. They don't do anything amazing for me." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "The branch service is not too good. [There is] hardly anyone about, [it is] mostly machines. The online website service is very good, easy to use." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It [meets] the requirement and I am happy with the service that I receive." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Very good with online banking." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "The charges are phenomenal." Southern England; Transportation and storage
• "[They] used to be very good. Now I don't have a prime contact. They don't know what I do. I don't know what they do and they've started to charge me." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "They are a necessary evil." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "I'm happy, except for the fact that they are charging for cheques and money [that] comes into the account and I'm annoyed at the fact that I cant just use my banking on the cheque basis. I don't trust the online banking, I don't think it is fully secure. I would rather use paper." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "I just do it all online, I don't really talk to them." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "We haven't been with them that long, but at the moment, since May, they've provided the services we've required. Their business advisors are not particularly efficient. We've just had rather patchy responses and a bit of lethargy. It does the job it's meant to do. They seem to be okay." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "They help us with everything we need. Everything runs smoothly." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "The service is by online [banking] and via phone. They are very good but I don't use the system much. Everything I do need them for they seem to have solutions [for] that work." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "They're easy to contact if you have any problems. [There is] good customer service." Southern England; Construction
• "They are very good. [I] have an account manager and go into the local bank. They are very helpful." Northern England; Transportation and storage
• "[They are] adequate because they are alright but quite expensive." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "They do the basics well but they are not particularly proactive." Southern England; Construction
• "It does what is expected." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "I would say that it is very expensive for the service it provides to my business It is impersonal and were it not for the local tellers that I know in the bank I would have actually changed to another bank a long time ago. They are friendly and helpful at the bank because they are individual people, but dealing with the corporate entity is unsatisfactory. When I had a different business I had [a] manager. I had somebody I could talk to rather than going to Sheffield or customer services, or wherever. Now nobody has an overview, nobody can comment. It is very user unfriendly." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Well, poor service. Specifically for small businesses." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They're okay. It's a newly opened account. Not really used all their services until now. Always using online." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "I'd say stable and reliable for our needs." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "I don't think another bank would provide these services." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It provides a banking service that is for themselves, not you. They are particular with your money, as they protect your money but don't give it out easily. I've had my card blocked numerous times. Didn't give out a card machine for my business. I had to get a private machine, which cost me money." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It is quite good. They are prompt with services." Southern England; Mining & quarrying: Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management
• "I'd say if I need support they are very helpful." Southern England; Construction
• "[Is is] quite easy to contact the business banking team. Online [banking] is set up well. [They are] easy to contact." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "[I have] no current issues. [The] charges are too high, [they are] quite helpful, online [banking]works well. [I would] recommend [them]." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It's okay currently with basic account. Take payments, transaction. Inflexible with certain transfers. Just little annoyances." Southern England; Construction
• "They are generally excellent. They provide a great service. Never had any problems. I have a human being, a business manager, the same person for many years." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "Good. You can spend a lot of time at the branch as there are only a couple of tills and they are very slow. A lot of time [is spent] queuing." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "The Internet banking and the security for it are quite good. However, the transaction limits and how they provide overdrafts are not flexible at all and they don't stay in touch either. We got a business manager a while ago, but didn't hear from him again." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Very good once or twice with authorising overdrafts. [They] don't give anything extra. They need to improve [their] communication." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "[I am] not happy with [the] charges." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Very average. It's not great. Serves a purpose." Northern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "Charges are a bit expensive." Northern England; Construction
• "Serves the purpose." Southern England; Education
• "We chose them as my business partner had a current account with them and he recommended them. It's a local branch, as well." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "I am very delighted with them, with telephone banking. Local branch very pleased with." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It is just a bank to house my money." Southern England; Construction
• "I'd say 100% unsatisfied. Very impersonal service." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "Minimal." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "I find them extremely efficient and very helpful." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "They let us get on with it. They don't have much input. It is a necessary part of the business." Wales; Information and Communication
• "Very good. They can call back evenings and have 24 hour services." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Up until now, I've been relatively pleased with everything HSBC has done, until I paid in an invoice that wasn't bonafide and it turned out to be a scam. HSBC were no help at all." Northern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "Rather bland. Does what it says on the tin." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Great for the first 2 years, but then would be better off switching." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "I think they sting customers on anything to do with merchant services. For example, you have to have a separate account for e-commerce and a separate account for a card machine and you just get stung on the charges. I think that to speak to them, they shouldn't use any call centres outside of the UK. I've phoned up sometimes and spoken to a British person, and sometimes it's someone in India. I think it depends on what the call is regarding." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They're always on the end of the phone, always available for help. Very friendly service in the bank. I have a small business manager, I'm more than delighted with the service they offer. I don't think it's the bank, it's just the business charges for putting money into my own bank [account]. I don't understand why we have to be charged when we don't get charged for personal accounts. What's the difference? It can't be a time factor. Just because you have a business they think you can afford it. I think it should be the other way around." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Okay again. Banks are all pretty much the same." Northern England; Construction
• "It's helpful. They want to help you." Southern England; Transportation and storage
• "It is really difficult. I have been with them for [x] years but the service has changed. It is not as personal. They are good for international payments." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "[They are] adequate, [there is] virtually zero personal contact." Northern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "It's been good, we've [got a] good relationship, no complaints. [I] would recommend [them]." Northern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "I [have] dealt with them [for] a long time, so I give them the benefit of the doubt." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They have closed our local branch. They are really helpful. Most of them are quick at depositing money. Their online services are very convenient. It's really easy." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "Average." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "Services in general are okay, but they closed our local branch. The closest branch is ten miles away. Everything is done via Internet banking, when its working. We also have telephone banking." Northern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "It is very good, I don't like queueing up in banks so they send me regular statements. I'm quite happy with the way it's working now." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "[They have] very easy online banking compared to other banks. [There is a] personal service in the branch. [I am] not too keen on bank charges. [It is] generally [a] smooth system." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "They respond well to any problems we have." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It's adequate for our purposes. They should be more proactive though." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "[It] satisfied our needs completely." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Somehow banks are all pretty much on the same level. Paying in facilities are good in branches. Online banking is easy and straightforward." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "[They are] more than adequate. We've got them when we need them." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "The service is good and they are very helpful and easily handle my calls." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "[It] does what we need them to do." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It's alright. I don't like any banks, they are all the same." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "It's difficult to get through to people, there is no personal touch." N Ireland; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Everything is satisfactory. [It is] everything I need from counter to online banking." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It is adequate." Southern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "Some of the services are very limited, and then they charge you to get those services expanded. What they do well is they leave us alone, we don't get hassled with phone calls. What they do badly, is putting daily value restrictions on making BACS payments, for our clients payroll. I think that on their online banking facility, they don't respond quickly to feedback to improve the service. Those our biggest two complaints at the moment." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "I think they do what they say they're going to do. If you need to know anything you can always get them on the telephone or by email. [I am] very satisfied." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "The managers at HSBC are quite good and professional. I feel HSBC also provides good customer services. They are, however, a bit expensive in some areas, especially for foreign currency services." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "The bank itself is good. I would argue the business manager has never been near a business and doesn't understand from my point of view." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They are there for me if I ever need them and get back to me if I need to ask them something." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It has poor customer service [and] unresponsive business managers." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "I get what I expect." N Ireland; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It's good." Northern England; Construction
• "Entirely adequate but expensive." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "They are acceptable for a business account provider, there are certain aspects that they could improve on when it comes to small businesses, especially with entrepreneurial ideas. I certainly would recommend them. I think they could offer more products for businesses." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It's perfectly competent, but the charges are high." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Very good." Wales; Other Service Activities
• "It is okay. We don't really use the services, we have very few problems." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Satisfactory but they did not meet their promises. Additional services offered were not forthcoming." Northern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Understanding." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Happy with it, we can speak to other people when we need to, when there are any problems." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "They're a pretty average bank." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "It was good at the start, then I was offered free banking, then they changed their terms and started to charge me." Northern England; Real Estate Activities
• "They don't do anything for me. I pay money in and take money out, and have tea with staff at times. They don't have to do anything. They don't advise me or call me at all to see how things are going." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "The service is quite expensive on a monthly basis, especially because they are not doing anything, for just being there really. Their foreign transactions are ridiculous, costs more to do it on the internet than it does on the phone, which in this day and age is crazy. They used to call me once a year to see how I was getting on and presently, I would not have heard from them for about 6/7 months now." Northern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "Adequate. A necessary evil. My local branch knows me and I know them." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "Very satisfied. They're always extremely pleasant and welcoming and there's is always someone to assist you." Northern England; Construction
• "Approachable but not always very efficient. They don't give me any problems, the bank manager is always very helpful." Northern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Adequate. I do not have any specific complaints." Southern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "Just about acceptable. Dissatisfied because we have lots of money in the accounts but get no interest for it, and yet if we overdrew we would be charged 20% interest." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They shut the bank branch in Hornsey. I work every day and I need the bank and it's not here. I just caught them at the time when they put charges up and closed the branch. That's the reason I swapped to NatWest." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Communication with the branch (by telephone) is very difficult, but apart from that everything is quite satisfactory." Wales; Construction
• "Minimal." Northern England; Construction
• "It's adequate to my needs." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "It's good. We don't contact them much as it's literally money transactions." Northern England; Construction
• "Very normal, average service." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Don't know. Pretty basic." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It's adequate, the customer relationship is responsive [and] customer service is invariably positive." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "They [do] not look after the clients. I think they are trying to reduce the bank and that's one issue." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Satisfactory." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "They provide me with what my business needs. Their VAT services are pretty good." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "Limited contact. Difficult to get contact with the relationship manager. Internet banking very useful. We have [a] long standing relationship with them; over 25 years." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "It's not going well. The service of staff, they aren't trained people and are not aware of business issues. All the changes are going in the wrong direction. The main service issue is [that] they need someone to have contact with. The new bank manager is not aware of issues, so it's very difficult. The problem is there is no choice. The other banks, like RBS, or NatWest are worse. NatWest was the worst experience. So was Lloyds, TSB and Santander." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Standard bank and services as expected." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "For us they are local and convenient and offer the services we require." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Adequate." Southern England; Construction
• "It's reasonable. From my experience the banks are all the same as long as you have money." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Reasonably helpful, they're pretty helpful." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "I do not think the attitude towards business banking comes across very well. The business bankers do not have access to services relating to business banking at hand in many of the branches. I think also the counter staff are either restricted or do not assist more than they are supposed to. I think their customer services should be improved." Southern England; Education
• "It's okay, it doesn't go over the top. Internet banking is quite easy to use." Southern England; Transportation and storage
• "It's regrettable, I no longer have personal contact with anybody at HSBC." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "I don't use [them]. It's all purely banking, so I don't have many dealings with them." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Average." Wales; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It does what I need, it's not very complex, my business. For a basic simple [business] I don't know if the fees are on par with other banks so I haven't looked at it yet." Northern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "Generally okay. Very difficult to open [a] new business account and difficult to get appointments." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "I think we went [with] them originally because of their international abilities, that was the key reason for choosing them and their online facilities are easy to operate and very good." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are supportive to our individual needs and we have a good relationship with the Bank Manager." Southern England; Construction
• "They just offer what we need as a banking facility." Northern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "We don't really receive the service from them at all, we just get banking from them and that's kind of it. We had a personal manager which was great, as far as the service you receive which we pay for any way, we don't get any advice, or figuring out how we are doing. So it's our bank account and nothing else, that's how I feel. Well I would not have anything good to say [but] at the end of the day you need a bank account to have a business. At the moment I don't think any bank provides other additional services from bank account. We don't get offered help, the only thing we do get is an overdraft, so we don't get anything in addition to a banking service, the only thing we get is a banking service. It would be nice for them to find how you're doing as a business but they don't facilitate that, their strategy is very reactive, so if you need anything you need to go and ask or beg, they are not proactive. They used to be a bit better about two years ago, they had a local business manager, who came and checked the operation. There is no autonomy or anything at branch level to decide whether you need financial help or not. For example we are in the process of expanding and we are having to fund everything ourselves." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "They are fairly average, they pretty much do what we want them to do. They aren't particularly exceptional at anything." Southern England; Construction
• "I still feel that small businesses are penalised. Even if I go into the bank, I pay in a cheque or pay in cash, I am charged, even though no person is involved. I go and use the machines. I seldom go to a counter." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "Happy to recommend. Best service, best turnaround in case of any queries." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Don't know. I just put my money in and take it out when I bank." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Functional but disinterested." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It is a very simple [service]. They provide services that we need to run our business and don't try to push any services that we don't ask for or is inappropriate for our business." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Friendly and pretty good all around." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Acceptable, they manage to do what I want them to do." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It is just average. We do not ask an awful lot of them. We do not utilize all their facilities. We are happy with what they provide us." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "They suit our needs and we get the service that we want from them. Efficient." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "They are not interested in small business. No one wants to know us if we are earning under half a million. They're not interested in helping or anything like that." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They take far too much for what they do. They don't do a lot of early hours, late hours. If you are 0 employees you have to do it on your day off. My bank manager is based in Wales. I'm based in Cornwall." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "I am very happy with them. I like the personal service. What I don't like is the automated paying in." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Have been good but now going backwards. As long as they keep my local branch I'm happy." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "Just reasonable. Not brilliant but not bad - fair. Leading money - they not been very good at it in the last two to three years. Basically they said they would finance a project. When the financial crisis came they wouldn't. They go back on their words when it suits them." Southern England; Construction
• "The services are relatively standard except for the foreign call centres." Southern England; Construction
• "It is good when I need it, however it is not as proactive as I would like it to be. They do provide good services." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Goal post changing." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I don't really speak to them." Northern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Adequate. Setting up and using, it works." Northern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "All banks are much of a muchness. I have not had contact with my account manager for 3 years. IT works well for them and Internet Banking. Are not pro-active unless you want to close your account." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Their policy has changed so that they are not willing to lend anymore, so if you want to do up [a] house as an investment, they wont help you anymore. That's why this nation is not on the up again, due to the banks not lending for investments." Northern England; Construction
• "I would say it is a standard banking service. You would need to contact them for any advice or support. The online banking is not very user friendly, especially for business owners." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "Satisfactory." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "They are okay, I do feel they are quite expensive. Their staffing could be reviewed. Sometimes I feel the staff aren't up to par." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are adequate. They do the job that we want them to do." Wales; Manufacturing
• "Not too much business advice." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I would suggest that they look at them. I think they could be satisfied with them." N Ireland; Other Service Activities
• "When I want to speak to my bank I cannot. You have to jump through hoops when you speak to the main office. Then they put you through to the bank anyway. Counter service is very good." Wales; Mining & quarrying: Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management
• "They are valueless [for] business banking." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Functional, impersonal. It is all done online." Southern England; Education
• "Perfectly satisfactory. We're happy." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "[For] ordinary UK transactions it's fine, but expensive on foreign transactions." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They are very good, however I would prefer if transfers from bank to bank were a bit faster." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Been there when we've needed them." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Pretty impersonal. There is no personal touch to it, it is like dealing with a computer, and that is probably why we do all our banking on the Internet." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "Satisfactory standard." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Efficient and easy to bank with, especially online. They do what you need them to do." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "It's satisfying but there could be changes. Changes could be made in the way they provide loans to small businesses and initial contact." Southern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "As far as I am concerned, very efficient. Not had any problems." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I would say that they are better than RBS. I've had businesses in the past where I have been let down by the bank so I try not to rely on them." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "For transactional services, money in and out they are fine. Limited when it comes to other areas such as vending, general interest in my business. We use them straight as a finance. They do not bother me and I do not bother them." Southern England; Construction
• "Provides a convenient service as to what I need. Banks covers most of what you will need as a business." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "They are adequate, they are just who I use." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Satisfactory." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Internet banking it's good, I find them reasonable and the bank approachable." Southern England; Education
• "I would say they gave excellent support to get the business started. It was quick and efficient. I would then say since that point there has been limited support or advice." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "It does everything it's meant to do. We've not had a problem with the account with them in [x] years, and therefore find it a reliable and efficient service. The online service just works. We've never seemed to have any problems with it. There is a bank branch in our local town, and again everything just works." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Even though we are a very small company we still get someone from the bank to talk to us because it's a small branch and we have more of a personal relationship with them." Southern England; Construction
• "Efficient pleasant, and straightforward to deal with." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "We have been with them for a long time and never had any problems. Never had a reason to change." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They are not interested in small/medium businesses. They are not a good business bank. They do not contact us to see how things are going or give interest on the current business account which I think is very unfair as we are putting thousands of pounds into the account at a time. They are complete rubbish and I would go elsewhere but they are the only bank that allows us to pay a large group of people at once. No other bank provides this service." Northern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Never had issues or problems. They have always given me what I have asked for." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "To be honest, I don't have any interaction at all." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "They are okay. We had some initial teething problems with them, and setting up new services can be awkward." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Limited, distant. Day to day satisfactory, doesn't cover any opportunities to progress and grow as a business. HSBC are not forthcoming with other services." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "They are as good as any." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Not really satisfied or dissatisfied. It's a necessary evil. Have money in there and get bank charges every month. It just seems very unfair, really." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "The services are effective, and [it] does what I need it to do." Northern England; Transportation and storage
• "Be careful of their charges. They'll give you little or no charges to begin with, but then they start charging and if you don't pay later on you don't get the service." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They don't actually provide a service. They want everything done on the Internet so we provide our own service. The relief bank manager was a waste of time." Northern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "They process card processes that we receive. We just use them because we have to." Scotland; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "A little above adequate. They are locally based, a local branch." Wales; Other Service Activities
• "I would say any bank, including HSBC, is overcharging on overdraft facilities." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Satisfactory for general business current account banking." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Adequate." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "They are very helpful because they recognise you when you go in everyday with the banking. If we need to ask a question it is answered. They are useful, when we need a cheque stopped in an emergency they will stop it." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Business banking is a rip-off. Try and use the current account if you can." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "The bank is okay, they were situated where I am. They have closed the bank down where I am. That wasn't helpful." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Adequate." Northern England; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• "They're very helpful and I'm satisfied with the service." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "I am happy with the service they provide to me." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They are [a] basic bank. They don't do anything extra. They just hold the money." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I think they're very efficient. Too expensive. Inflexible." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "They do not seem to be proactive and for where I live, it is very difficult to actually see the business manager. They have reduced the services of the branches and the business manager does not come to the other branches often. I would expect them to phone me up more often than they do currently, to update me on new products and services. They phone me up once in 6 months but they could at least phone me up once every quarter." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "I find dealing with them very straightforward." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "It's fair treatment for the customers and good response for the business." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "It's okay, but sometimes when we order things like cheque books there is a delay, or we have difficulties. When we really need it, it's not there." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "5/10. They don't communicate." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They are functional." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Average." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "Whatever experience I've had has always been good." Southern England; Manufacturing
• "In all fairness, we have got our level of business activity, it is not to the level which would allow us to have to deal with a lot of transactions. It would be unfair to say that they are unhelpful, we don't know as yet. Only a few transactions." Scotland; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "It's good." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "We don't use a lot of the services from them, but they charge us quite a bit." Northern England; Construction
• "The counter service is not open for long enough." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Generally good, but I object to the constant change in manager." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles

The below comments were given by respondents who gave the bank a low overall score (see glossary for more details).

• "The lack of any sensible deposit ability and lack of finance for property investments. They put point one on your deposit accounts and then refuse to allow you any investment facilities for taking loans out on property. They have no method for making your saving work for you, the customer." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Normal day to day is okay." Northern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "Don't really receive any to be honest. No one at [the] bank when needed. Very impersonal." Northern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Hard work because they don't have any consideration for small businesses." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "There is no point of contact with them. We had an issue with them and they did not appreciate the problem, they just ignored it. They have not given any feedback on the issue. There is no way I can contact them except for calling the centre." Northern England; Construction
• "It's not as strong as it could be." Wales; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I am pretty unsatisfied, as it's ridiculously expensive." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "The one thing I want them to do is send an acknowledgement of payment, and it takes them far too long and messes up my transactions." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "Lack of in depth knowledge." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Nothing special, just basic service." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "Not very good. Not helpful for small companies. If you phone them up for a loan, they fob you off. They expect you to lose a day's pay so the bank manager [can] come and see [you]. I don't have to check my bank balance, because when it's getting near my overdraft they're on the phone offering me a credit card, which I won't be able to pay." Southern England; Transportation and storage
• "We don't communicate with them, they communicate with us. We put money in and take money out." Northern England; Transportation and storage
• "Poor service. [The] way they treat us [is poor]." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Minimal." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "It's existing." Northern England; Other Service Activities
• "It's gone downhill." Southern England; Education
• "They are not interested unless you've got £100,000 deposit." Southern England; Real Estate Activities
• "They are anonymous entity that have no interest at all, except for when there is an issue." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "I don't receive any services from them. They are simply a necessity. I used to have a business relationship manager, but he left two years ago and no-one has replaced him." Southern England; Construction
• "The bank is fine if you have money in the account. When there's a need for finance they don't come up with the goods, despite what government says about banks lending to small businesses." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "HSBC [is] inconsiderate in the application of charges to small businesses." Northern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "Their services are fine, managerial support is lamentable. The day-to-day service is okay, but the managerial support is simply non-existent." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "They are uninspiring, but could be due to relationship with the local manager." Northern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "They change the rules to suit them. When you open the account with them, then they change the rules. Santander does not change the rules. HSBC changes the rules to suit themselves. They shut branches to suit themselves without telling people." Southern England; Construction
• "I feel they are pretty poor. It's a computer service that says "yes" or "no". There is no personal banking. I have no contact with any manager anymore, it's very difficult for me. It's just an Internet sector, there's no continuity with them." Southern England; Construction
• "Non-existent. The business manager said his hands are tied. The banking now runs through head office and the business has overdrafts and things like that." Southern England; Transportation and storage
• "Very slow. Practically useless. Lack of communication. Total dissatisfaction." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Used to be very good until they moved to the city." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "They are mediocre and they don't listen to instructions." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "HSBC are not particularly supportive to businesses of her size. Not helpful in branch. Told to phone or go online for issues. No issues online." Scotland; Other Service Activities
• "Truly dreadful, their very existence, and the complete lack of support in any way to small businesses." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "Not that great. Nowadays, you can't ring someone up and speak to someone like a bank manager, like it used to be. No personal thing there anymore." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Unsupportive to small businesses." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Been in business for years, this is not taken in consideration, but no track record. Act as if just started when sole trader. No backing, despite good history." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "He wouldn't recommend. All banks are the same, no considerations for business. Changed terms. Went back on their agreement. Keeps closing braches. Difficult to get to." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Good counter service. Pleasant staff." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "They are unhelpful. They seem to be a law unto themselves." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I find the service crap." Northern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Absolutely no help raising extra finance, and if I [was] not on first name terms with my relationship manager I would look somewhere else." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Constant pressure. Reluctant support." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "The staff are amazing, but products are rubbish." Southern England; Construction
• "Pretty poor." Northern England; Construction
• "I find the service really poor for what they charge. What we get is very poor." Northern England; Manufacturing
• "[They are] not that good. We will move as soon as we can." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Okay, but I think they charge small business like myself far too high." Northern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Poor online banking." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "Very poor service in the last few years." Southern England; Financial and Insurance Activities
• "Well one particular grievance is, I find [it] astonishing that it still takes seven days to clear cheques. I don't understand how, even if it just happens every now and then, they charge us when a cheque is not cleared. I don't understand why they charge for paying money in, when they are making a profit lending money. And generally banks are not interested in helping businesses....I approached the bank for [a mortgage] and I asked for a mortgage at about 15% of the total amount. Everything was going through, but at the last moment my manager said they wouldn't give me a mortgage because it was below the minimum amount, and they offered a business loan as an alternative. When I compared the interest, the business loan [was] far higher. I took the commercial mortgage on the absolute minimum amount, on my own terms, and paid them back. But they felt cheated out of their money, and accused me, even though I operated within proper conduct." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "Can't think of anything HSBC are good at. Their communication need to be improved. Completely dissatisfied at HSBC handing over merchant services. They are not understandable and I had no choice in the matter." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "No service." Southern England; Information and Communication
• "I would say that they are fine in the good times, but the moment you need them they are a bunch of prats. Customer service, I don't like calling India and I don't like to speak [to someone] whose first language is not English. To be honest, I absolutely avoid dealing with the bank. I would like to have more dealings with them but I lack confidence in their ability. I do not understand how a call centre in India can understand my business in Derbyshire." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They are not very supportive as long as you are within parameters. With what we are, they are fine. They don't go out their way." Southern England; Construction
• "They don't care about small people or businesses. The managers do not have any authority, and they are not like the managers of today's businesses, and are not able to make decisions for retailers when you want them." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Well, customer service is very bad. Well, all of them. HSBC financial services are not good because if you ask for [a] loan they will not give it to you and I don't ask them anymore." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "They could do better. Every time I apply for a loan, they do not help. They always reject without a reason. There is no business planning, and a basic online service." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Feel there is no customer service, and the whole service received is lousy." Southern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "The are adequate. They charge too much and when there are queues in the branch, they need to put on more staff. If another bank offered me a better deal I would swap, but they are all the same." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "Finds it difficult to speak to bank in the branch and would prefer this to Internet banking or online. Thinks the charges are extortionate and doesn't feel that the bank helps small businesses. Has found that the bank have been useful with regards to noticing hackers in the account and making the owner aware as well as helping." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Absolutely terrible." Northern England; Construction
• "No contact for two years and an overdraft charge without telling me. Nowhere near as good as [they] used to be. They do things without letting me know. I applied for a loan and was going to have to pay a charge of 15% on it, when Sainsbury's only charged 4.5%. I went there instead." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Very poor." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "The charges are quite high for business banking considering we are a small business. Everything else is fine in terms of the service." Southern England; Accommodation and Food Service Activities
• "Exceptionally poor." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They closed the local banks [and] tried to make us use online [banking]. [It is] unsatisfactory." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Okay. Good on figures, but very poor on their invoicing structure. They don't do well with apologising. The day-to-day [operations are] fine. I don't have many dealings with them, only with the transactions." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "It is efficient, but costs too much." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They make charges where they shouldn't. [They are] not very efficient at processing transfers." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Now that I have opened a bank account with another bank for my other business I have noticed that they are all appalling. It's the bare minimum. [There is] no use of systems for Internet and telephone banking." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "Services are non-existent as they do not understand the business." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Terrible. [They have] very little contact with customers. In the last five years we haven't seen any personnel from HSBC. They have no idea of our loans or anything. We have tried to get mortgages and loans. They've always told us 'no'. [They are] not very customer-focussed." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "It's very minimal." Northern England; Administrative and Support Service Activities
• "Very inconsiderate to the small rural business because of closing a branch which now means a 15 mile journey to a branch that's not open as many hours." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Awful. They don't give any service unless you have a big bank balance." Wales; Education
• "Essentially unresponsive, and they don't understand what we do. I can have the bank manager visit us and promise to do things, and nothing happens." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Just one word. Reasonable." Southern England; Human Health and Social Work Activities
• "I would not recommend them, I would [use] Barclays or NatWest. Barclays are a better service and they look after their customers, unlike HSBC." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They're purely there to make money. There's not even a gloss of caring about others at the other end of the business." Southern England; Education
• "Inefficient. That's why I gave it a rating of 2, because they appear as [if] they don't want your business." Southern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "They are out of tune with individual business and the marketplaces they work. The facilities, and [they] make an attempt to make contact or discuss your business requirement with you." Southern England; Construction
• "Hard work, because you can't get the finance you want. The banking industry at the moment in this country, even if you've got assets, which I've got, they still won't finance you as you would require." Northern England; Construction
• "Not very good." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I would say they used to be quite good. Their charges have become excessive. E.g. I recently banked [omitted] in cash and they charged me £30." Northern England; Transportation and storage
• "Too rigid, not flexible, not for small business." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They're okay but on charges there is no leeway." Southern England; Education
• "Generally very poor. Very little support." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Authoritarian." Southern England; Construction
• "Inadequate and impersonal, encouraging the use of machines rather than human cashiers. Flimsy receipts that fade before statutory 7 years' archiving completed, and no counter service on Saturdays." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "They're very greedy. Every chance they get they would get a bigger share than I would expect, i.e. charging for transactions, especially foreign currency. They pay no interest at all on accounts. I've got a current account with them and sometimes I have £8000 or £9000 in the business account and have no interest at all on it. They seem to penalise you. I have my own current account with HSBC, everything seems to be more expensive than for a non-business customer account holder. I would change, but there are so many problems changing. Everyone says it's very easy, buts its not." Northern England; Education
• "All I use it for is money going in and out, used to be free after about a year they started charging. It was the only [one] that was free [and] now it's not even competitive with the cheaper one, and every time I apply to the other banks I get rejected." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "Poor customer service." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "They make decisions without communicating to customers in accordance with their previous agreements. This is in relation to my overdraft which they cancelled without any notification. So we are moving away from them." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "We get a bog standard current account and online banking and that's it." Southern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "I am not into it, I would not recommend it to anyone, they can choose for themselves." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "I think they do as little/as much as possible without charging you. Everything costs as a service, and they have little or no actual ownership of the business relationship beyond a sales opportunity. They see the relationship as a sales opportunity. There is no competition in the marketplace." Southern England; Other Service Activities
• "They are just about acceptable. They have nothing for very small businesses. They offer no support for very small businesses." Northern England; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "I'm a bit disappointed with HSBC. They used to have a branch near us and they shut it, when it was busy. It was a busy bank." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "The problem with them is that they don't seem to grasp the customer relationship issues that, as a small business, we need to feel that the bank is interested and they're not interested." Northern England; Information and Communication
• "The internet banking is awful, we don't do much else." Wales; Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities
• "Overpriced and lacking support." Northern England; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
• "Well, we have a small branch. They only really care about themselves. I have free banking now but previously they piled charges on for everything. I deal mainly on a cash basis and they charged for paying in." Northern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "In my relationship with the bank there was this dedicated manager who was very poor at communications in general. From the bank little or no support." Southern England; Wholesale and retail trade, Repair of motor vehicles or motorcycles
• "Good for international finance. Virtually impossible to borrow." Scotland; Mining & quarrying: Electricity, Gas and Air Conditioning Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management