HSBC Advance Rates & Review

HSBC Advance Review

HSBC Advance is the online savings division of HSBC Bank USA, which serves 3.8 million Americans and is part of a global banking company that is the largest financial institution in the world.

HSBC Advance (formerly known as HSBC Direct) offers high interest savings account options to its online customers. HSBC Bank USA is headquartered in New York City and has over 400 branch locations in the United States. Its holding company, HSBC North America Holdings Inc., is one of the country's top ten bank holding companies with assets of $391 billion as of December 2009. Its parent company is UK-based HSBC Holdings PLC, a global financial services company headquartered in London. Forbes reports that in 2010, HSBC Holdings was the world's largest banking and financial services group and the world's eighth largest company of any kind, with assets of more than $2.3 trillion as of December 2009.

Basic savings account

The basic savings account offered by HSBC Advance is a no-fee account with no minimum balance requirement. It opens with just $1. This account can be linked with one or more checking accounts at other banks to facilitate easy transfer of funds into the account. Customers can opt to set up automatic transfers to their savings account for ongoing savings.

Online CD

HSBC Advance also offers the option to open a CD online. CD terms range from 6 months to 4 years. When the term is up, the account balance can automatically roll over to a new CD of the same term with the current rate at time of renewal.

HSBC Advance credit cards

Customers of HSBC Bank are able to apply for several different types of rewards credit cards. These include cards with various perks such as cash back, travel rewards and points rewards. Most HSBC rewards cards currently come with a long-term introductory rate on purchases and balance transfers and no annual fee.

Deposit insurance

Parent company HSBC Bank USA is a member bank of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The temporary increase in FDIC coverage from $100,000 to $250,000 per depositor was made permanent in July 2010. All eligible deposits are FDIC-insured up to at least $250,000 per depositor. Joint accounts are FDIC-insured up to at least $250,000 per account holder.

Compare savings account rates from HSBC Advance and more than 400 other banks at SavingsAccounts.com.