indi.ca

32 Comments

1. 

   Hah! Damnable Dongle indeed, I fortunately have an excellent relationship with them (via some serious bank-related sucking up and a reference letter I wrote for a sales rep. Two things they buggered for me:

   1. Was out of the country, lost credit card, got it back, intermittent cancellation could not be un-cancelled and had to fork out small cash fortune in wheelbarrow for hotel bill.

   2. Tried to pay credit card bill once, money got lost in limbo and they needed my seething physical presence at the card centre for hours in order to “re-activate the card” which had been mysteriously anaesthesized. I’m sure they’ll never ask me to come to the card centre again.

   Hi-la-rious. They extra precautionary about the credit thingy because Sri Lankan’s are remarkably non-committal about taking loans / credit. It’s just the Thoid Woild thing.

2. 

   Mate, don even bother about working on the HSBC site, works perfectly everything your paye is all linked to one bank. i didnt know you need a reference to open an acc, well actually i didnt come across that. at the time i got ma CC they said somethin about being over 21, damm i was 18 i got one, no deposit, nothing of that. do they have random way of harrassing ppl?!?!? Best is refrain from being in contact with any bank. i hate talking to the csr of all the banks, clearly dont understand your need, but they just try to stress out how stressful is to work with a difficult customer all the time and not willing to bend the rules what so ever. PUNCH line me n ma mates use, F*** you, put ur manager online, i dont wanna talk to small timer like you. Usually gets the job done.. ever tried tht??

3. 

   I know what you mean. I once got pissed and asked what advantages they have over other banks, and they said well, they are internationally recognised and have a good reputation.
   That’s it!!

4. 

   Now, figure out what you might do when you have money in an HSBC account and they go through their keychain stupidity… and you never receive your token because you’re not in SL at the moment?! Why, internet banking becomes useless, that’s what happens. Does that keychain make their online banking that much more secure? Maybe it does, but it’s like asking everyone to remove their clothes at the airport and wear a transparent polythene overall while flying (not my idea, this was yours from a previous post).

   Besides, getting a statement from them was like asking for the crown jewels. Several faxes, telephone calls and repeated requests later, I gave up and stopped using the HSBC account. Couldn’t transfer any money out either (no internet banking, remember?). I come back to SL to find that they’ve actually made my account inactive. Less than 18 months since the last transaction, they “froze my account for my own security”. They required my presence at the branch to “reactivate” the account. I wanted to snap at the bank critter who babbled this idiocy to me, but that would have been pointless.

   I do my banking elsewhere now. Never again. Not even their credit cards – and yes, I had the same experience you did with the deposit. This is just HSBC lk though. Every other HSBC I’ve ever dealt with is decent and outright phenomenal in comparison to these jokers. The only way to get decent service from HSBC lk as a customer is to upgrade to their premier or assetvantage (or whatever they call them) services … and I’m not so sure about the assetvantage customers either.

5. 

   HSBC is full of shit. I deal with American express and Nations Trust which offers a friendlier service and is far more practical to bank with.

6. 

   hahaha the biggest joke i’ve heard in my life time. AE & NTB friendly service?? man they need to get back to the books/square 1 on customer service. the worst time of my life is dealing with these stupid AE. NTB has actually ruined the name of AE with thier service. I’ve had the Manager of Customer Service apologise to me personally when i gave them uptight about their system. He said their system aint calibrated together, its all an independent unit. i.e between payment, collection, customer service.

7. 

   Have not had any major quibbles with HSBC of late but the Sri lankan airlines site is rubbish.

   They make a stupid offer that no one can get – you have to keep trying over and over again hoping that you will be lucky next time around. The offer is valid for certain dates – but they don’t tell you what those dates are.

   The stupid clowns think that they can attract people to the site with a cheap offer and then trick them into booking at a higher rate.

   Thank god for the middle eastern airlines, Qatar, Etihad and others. They keep their fares low, who wants stupid Sri Lankan when these airlines offer excellent value.

   For your info Qatar has now beaten the SRilanakan offer 18k+taxes to London,

8. 

   All I can say it, that stupid woman on the Sri Lankan website totally deserves to have her tooth messed with. I spent half of my working day today trying to buy the damn ticket, and had to stare at her for 2 hours while the website tired to process my credit card (before crashing) while her bland smile kept staring at me on screen. And here I was one of those people who had the HSBC dongle and a Verified by Visa password. But still Sri Lankan the site crashed, mostly with the cryptic error message Indi metnioned, but even better was the message which said “Web site unavailable. Do not worry. This is not a serious error. Please try again”. Were they joking?
   Anyway 4 attempts online, 3 phone calls to Sri Lankan, 2 calls to Sri Lankan’s “web reservation help desk” later, I supposedly have a ticket.

9. 

   Um, I am actually in an assload of trouble with friends because they know that girl, and she is (as I’m quite sure) a very nice person who I’ll probably run into. I’m tenatively keeping it because she’s there as a representative of SriLankan Airlines and not in a personal capacity, but I wouldn’t say that she’s stupid by any means. The site sucks and it’s obviously not built for this amount of traffic (I wonder how overbooked the flights are?) but the woman is a person and probably quite cool. I’m actually still debating whether to take the image off.

10. 

    Well HSBC obviously sucks. But I don’t think you should worry about online commerce in Sri Lanka. Other banks arn’t as bad. If they ask you for a deposit of 100,000 rupees and you don’t even get interest on that, that REALLY SUCKS.
    It’ll be better if you switch over to another bank. I have a “credit card” at another (local) bank, and my account is blocked to the full value of my “credit limit”. The word “credit” is a misnomer as you said, but atleast I get an interest on the amount that is blocked on my account.
    Also, I understand that the reason paypal doesn’t operate in Sri Lanka is because financial regulations (exchange control) doesn’t allow it to. If paypal is allowed in Sri Lanka, that’ll be great for online commerce.
    WE WANT PAY PAL!
    Hey just saw the picture of the airline hostess, LOL. LOL, LOL, LOL, LOL!

11. 

    You better remove it Indi. Sri Lanka is a small place and everyone at Sri Lankan is bound to look at this, and they’ll remember you. They might throw you out of the plane from 30,000 feeet above ground if you ever have to travel on Sri Lankan airlines.

12. 

    I think the slogan will cause more ambiguity. Keep the girl OR the slogan. I think the slogan is fab though. But in this fairly restrictive environment it’s very possible someone attributes a different context to the slogan especially given that it’s next to a woman’s picture.

    But if they try anything we’ve got your back.

13. 

    I walked into Sampath Bank yesterday. Walked out twenty minutes later with a new bank account, an ATM card, a PIN to use the card and another for phone banking. And this was on a busy day.

    Apart from the ‘reference’ in order to open an account with HSBC I am also required to make an initial deposit (which is a fairly significant percentage of my monthly salary) and maintain it or I get charged extra. So, in order to open an account with HSBC I have to survive a whole month with less money than usual or pay their fees. How much does it cost them to maintain an account with less than the minimum balance? My guess is close to nothing, relative to the actual fee levied.

14. 

    Yeah, I have the same problem as you. they require you to maintain 25,000 else you get charged 200 a month. Didnt need a reference tho.

    I got sampath but they are boring.

    Any suggestions for any other bank? is NTB and AE that bad?

15. 

    Worse, you might have her on your flight and she might pee in your Carlsberg.

16. 

    I got a HSBC credit card somewhere in ’97 or something when they were introducing it, and I didn’t need to open an account or make a deposit.

    The security issues may have been because of the amount of internet fraud that happened back then. Got a bill for some use of the card at an online porn site, so I complained about it. They suspended my card for three months while they sorted it out. Eventually I didn’t have to pay for the online bills, but I didn’t have a cad for three months! When I moved to Germany in 2001, I happily continued to use the card for six months, until I was informed that I couldn’t have a Sri Lankan HSBC card if I was resident overseas! Promised me I could get a nice new shiny card when I returned. That was the end of my relationship with those idiots. I now have a German Sparkasse credit card which I used without a single hassle for three years in Sri Lanka.

    Do you know that HSBC won’t let you buy foreign cash or travellers cheques for travel if you don’t have an account with them? Commercial Bank, Seylan, or any other local bank have no such hangups, as far as I know.

    However, banking as a whole in SL is laughable. While I was living in Colombo, I needed to have my rent paid to my landlord, who lived in London but had a Sampath account in SL. So I give Commercial Bank (where I have an account) a standing order to transfer the money each month. I presume it’s a done deal, as does my landlord, and neither of us check. Six months later he does, and asks me where the cash is. So I dash over to the bank and the buggers have neither transferred the cash, nor have any record of my standing order. The argument goes on for days til I dig up my copies of everything. They then apologise profusely (previously they denied anything like that was possible), and transfer the money poste haste. Fortunately my landlord didn’t ask for the lost interest on the money.

    It’s all ridiculous.

17. 

    I banked with HSBC in the UK. They were amazing. Phone and online banking was setup and given to me from the get-go. They gave me a credit card with a huge credit limit with no questions asked. A bank account overdraft limit too. They were so great that I thought that they were the best bank in the world…

    But when I came to SL, a lot of people told me not to bank with them, as their rates were high, and service poor. In SL, HSBC have a terrible reputation. I haven’t met one person who recommends them. I don’t know why that is, but the head honchoes at HSBC (in Hong Kong/Shanghai?) should get their butts down to Sri Lanka and see how these guys are messing up their brand name.

    I bank with Nations Trust Bank (NTB), and I think they’re pretty all right. I like how they have cashpoints at nearly all the LIOC gas stations. Easy to remember where they are. I haven’t got round to trying their online banking yet, though.

18. 

    I don’t think the head honchos give a toss really. SL probably is a drop in the market. You see the same situ with 5-star hotels, ad agencies, or whatever. Pizza Hut quality in SL is barely eatable when compared to the same franchise in Europe. A Taj hotel in India is almost 6-star, but in Colombo it’s a stretch to actually call it 5-star. And the list goes on…

19. 

    Indi,

    1. The ‘reference’. You may find this silly but it is a result of all the anti-terrorist and money laundering laws that have been put into place. You will find this to be the same with any international bank because they have to comply to US and European laws. If one of their customers is found to be engaged in terrorist activities and/or money laundering and the bank has not done the proper checks, the US will freeze their assets. Local banks don’t have any such compulsions.

    2. The security token. Your argument that it is overkill to have such security because the number of users don’t warrant it is silly. What, pray, is the critical mass? Someone as net savvy of you should realise the dangers of identity theft etc. We may not have them here yet, but the rest of the world does and it is only a matter of time before our talented countrymen follow suit. The security device ensures a double layer of protection and has been rolled out globally, hence Sri Lanka getting it too. Yes, it may entail some getting used to but you would be singing a different tune if it didn’t exist and someone hacked into your account with a basic program that tracks keystrokes.
    3. The Verified by Visa and Mastercard. It is easy to blame this on HSBC but I just checked and it is compulsory for VISA and Mastercard agents to do so. You may ask why the other banks haven’t done so then and the answer is that global banks are usually the first to implement these sort of things with the local banks following suit later. Rest assured that you will face the same issue with Sampath et al.

    Some of the other comments on HSBC on this forum, I don’t have answers. As much as we try to provide the best possible service, there are cockups occasionally. I could also add that cockups are not exclusively our domain but that wouldn’t be right and it really doesn’t matter whether others screw up, HSBC shouldn’t. A lot of the draconian stuff that some of you have mentioned is really due to the fact that HSBC has to adhere to both US, UK and HKMA guidelines, which are way more stringent than the local ones. This is not an excuse but merely something all of us have to get used to. The CBSL will eventually adopt these and then the local banks will also have to toe this line.

    Cheers

20. 

    Thanks for the HSBC side response BD. My main problem is that HSBC seems to have implemented heavy-handed security measure without thinking of the customer. I’m sure there are many things they have to do, but what makes a bank excellent is providing security while making their customers. The best security, in fact, should be almost invisible.

    1. Reference: I read a few things on the US anti-terror laws, and the part of the Patriot Act I read simply said that you must provide valid/ID and an address to open an account. I don’t see any legal requirement for a reference (though I’d be glad to see one) and I think it smacks too much of an ‘in-club’. If I’m an expat who doesn’t know anyone I can’t open an account and if I’m someone poor/middle class I can’t open an account, unless I bump into someone that already does. I, personally, was not able to open an account without my parents, and I think that’s a bad thing. Banking is a basic requirement for participating in the economy and HSBC is restricting that to people with ‘references’. I don’t think waving the terrorism flag makes that any better, or legally binding.

    2. Dongle: Fair enough about the critical mass, but I just know that the dongle has added enough annoyance to my life that I don’t use Internet Banking anymore. I have too many things in my pocket and I do not want a new keychain. I also don’t want another thing to lose. If you’re doing Public/Private Key cryptography it’s great, but why not give me the option of collecting my key through my cell-phone or something? Honestly the whole HSBC Online Banking experience is frustrating. I have to use numbers in my username (which I can never remember), and the password is hyperanal, and I can’t bank in my sarong cause I have to find the damn dongle. I simply don’t use Internet Banking with HSBC anymore.

    3. Verified by Visa: I do and have done a bit of online shopping and people still don’t require Verified by Visa. It’s a bonus to cover their liability, but it is not a requirement as far as I know. To quote the Canadian Electronics shop Futureshop ‘We encourage all Visa cardholders to sign up for their personal Verified by Visa password but it is not a requirement.’

    Basically, I think there is a line between security and bad customer care. Right now, IMHO, HSBC is on the wrong side. Not to say that it’s a bad company or bad people. I know quite a few people who work there and it is nice finding ‘my’ ATM all over the world. However, saying that there are international standards or ‘this is an international bank’ and telling me that ‘this is an international bank’ doesn’t make me feel any better as a customer. I’m still a tool who can’t buy a plane ticket online, get a real credit card or even open an account without asking someone connected for a favor. HSBC Sri Lanka may be an international bank, but that doesn’t mean I need to feel like a small customer. And I do.

21. 

    Indi,

    1. Reference: No one’s waving the terrorist flag. And HSBC is not the only bank doing this. It is merely the most visible as Citi and DB don’t have retail banking presence here. I’m sure StanChart has the same requirements. I agree it is not ideal but any financial institution that operates globally has to abide by these regulations. The Patriot Act may state that you only need a valid ID and address but that is only to tighten loose US banking practices. The regulations that the US imposes on international institutions operating in the US is far more stringent. It is difficult to explain the importance most global banks pay to money laundering prevention and compliance. You have to work in one to understand it. Furthermore, in the UK for example, there is a lot of information sharing between banks, which allows them to be a little less stringent about who banks with them, but Sri Lanka has patchy credit information and thus it doesn’t work that way here. If you are a poor local, it is true that you will find it difficult to open an account with us. This is not an ideal situation but there is just no way around it. If we don’t know who you are or if you can’t prove that you are of good standing, then taking you on as a customer would put as at risk. That may not be the most politically correct answer I know but is simply the truth. An expat, of course, can come with a letter of recommendation from his bank in his country of residence. Believe me, most expats know this as it is established practice now in most countries.

    2. Dongle: Fair point about the mobile phone. It needs to be looked into. Right now, the dongle has an algorithm that generates the random password which is linked by the customer ID to our system which has the same algorithm. The issue is replicating this on a mobile phone. Will take it up.

    3. VISA: Like I said, this is just being rolled out, hence the message that you saw on Futurshop’s site encouraging people to get it. It is not a requirement now for the shop as it will be some time before all the banks implement it, possibly an year or two. I agree it is a pain for those cardholders who don’t have an account and therefore no Personal Internet Banking access. I believe we are looking at alternative registration methods. However, it is definitely not something we initiated ourselves.

    On the ‘international bank’ thing, I must apologise. That is not the way we differentiate ourselves. As I stated previously, some cockups do occur. I will bring it up. However, don’t let the dongle put you off Internet Banking. I know I may come across as being biased, but I have used ComBank.lk and I have tested some of the others and the HSBC one is really quite good. Just about the only thing you can’t do is withdraw money!

22. 

    thanks for that.. i’m not going to waste time or gastric acid trying to book a ticket on the SLan site .. i think i”ll get the friendly London travel agent to book. Indi maybe u can offer to redesign the SLan site? :) was it Affno who developed the existing site?

23. 

    Aha! Look like I’m not the only one with HSBC problems. There are advantages like; you don’t have to wait in the line for long time, etc… with HSBC.
    But other than that, I found I have spent lot of time on ‘unnecessary stuff’.

    Finally I settled with small branch of Commercial Bank in My Small town – get in and Talk to the manager – open my account – get his email address and phone number – the whole staff knows me after 6 month. It feels good to be a big fish in a small pond than been a small fish in big pond. :-)

24. 

    Damn right Sam.

    To be fair to HSBC though, the banking experience in general will take a nosedive with the Money Laundering act and Prevention of Terrorist Fundabudboobadabang Act kicking in. Local banks will have to take up the security cudgels soon as well.

    The thing BD though, is, that a bank with HSBC’s vast resources and global experience really should be using them to enhance the customer services they provide. An anticipated hassle for the customers should be nullified by a step up in customer service. And one of the chief complaints of Indi and several others is the lack of commonsense and courtesy.

    By your own admission a large perecentage of your clientele is not the average man on the street. Therefore it stands to reason that your customer service should be above average as well. No?

25. 

    And don’t let’s get into a motherfucking argument of whether the ‘average man on the street’ mentioned in my previous post exists or not! Ravana and Ru don’t even think about it.

26. 

    Sophist,

    Point taken. I have given the link to this post and comments to the relevant people.

27. 

    Lol.. you actually censored her face!

28. 

    Well HSBC has done well to come out of their shell (after operating in Sri Lanka for a long time as the only foreign bank) and enter mainstream commercial banking in Sri Lanka. But my complain is that once a customer is given internet banking facilities, it should make that customer’s life easier. I have my account opened at Nawala branch and when I had to come to Maldives to work 4 months ago I wanted to know whether I could use my internet banking facility to transfer funds from HSBC Male’ to my acoount at Nawala (to pay the instalment of a loan taken from HSBC). It took two days for the bank to find this out and finally they told me that I could infact do this. But when I went to HSBC Male’ branch they came up with a story saying that even though HSBC -Male’ is abranch of Sri Lankan unit, that they cannot do this transfer via internet becuase of various exchange controls and operating under different jurisdictions! I know for a fact that there are no exchange regulations in Maldives and you can transfer even ten million dollars without any hasseels (I do a lot of fund transfers for the company I am working for every day). They just came up with the above convinient excuse and told me that I will have to open another account in Male’ and pay transfer fees and commissions to transfer funds to MY account in Colombo! And that is as Indi correctly says making your customers feel small and not very good customer service.

29. 

    I am a freelance web developer, currently doing business with many overseas clients. I wanted to have an RFC account to get my payments to SL. I first went to HSBC. guess what!!! they asked me to provide National ID+Passport+$500 inward remmitance. I said I can provide my NIC and $500 inward remmittance but the Passport which I dont have. they insisted for a passport!!!!
    I just went away and now I am a happy customer of some other bank. But I am still suffering with HSBC credit card. Hoping to get rid of it soon too.

30. 

    MAn!! you aren’t the only one… i went through much the same thing while trying to get a quotation to file along with a request for a bank loan…(*the parties involved are the same lol) but then i had to find my own connecting flights, and get a verbal quotation til i paid??? now what s the whole meaning of a quotation?? a piece of “written” document that shows how much it’s going to cost me to fly. now if i myself am not financing the damnable thing how am i going to get someone else to?? on verbal orders??

    The worst part of all this is that 9if you want to talk to a human(*they aren’t actually;)) it takes around 15 mins to get from the mechanized “press on , press two” thing…

    Thats srilankan for ya…

    Take care

31. 

    you can always count on 5 star hotels when you want maximum comfort and a lot of souvenirs `:”

32. 

    Did you see the new Sri Lankan Airlines website at http://www.srilankan.lk ?

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