HSBC has rolled out a new account opening bonus, now worth up to $5,000. You only need to deposit money to qualify—no direct deposit required. Compared with the previous offer, the required deposit amounts are higher. Still, since you can park the money in a Premier Relationship Savings account earning around 3% APY, this is not a bad place to leave your cash—similar to buying a CD. This offer expires on August 31!

Here are the requirements: within 20 days of opening the account, you can place the required funds in a Premier Checking, Premier Savings, or Premier Relationship Savings account. You need to keep the funds there for three consecutive months (to be safe, maybe plan for four months). For the first two tiers, this works out to about a 1% return over 3 months, or roughly 4% annualized. Add the savings account’s own 3% yield, and you are looking at about a 7% effective annualized return, which is pretty solid. The last two tiers are a bit lower at about 0.7% and 0.5%; using the same math, that comes out to roughly 6.1% and 5.3% effective annualized return.

  • $1,500 bonus: deposit $150,000-$249,999
  • $2,500 bonus: deposit $250,000-$499,999
  • $3,500 bonus: deposit $500,000-$999,999
  • $5,000 bonus: deposit $1,000,000+

In addition, based on reports from readers, people physically in China may also be able to apply directly for US HSBC Premier. The entire application can reportedly be completed using Chinese documents, including your address, national ID number, passport, and so on. You do need to be an HSBC Premier customer in China, and the proof of address uploaded can be your China HSBC Premier statement. If you are in China, you may want to see whether you can open it directly. Just use the link below and select China as the region. Overall this is an excellent bonus, and I’ve added it to the bank bonus rankings!

We also put together a list of account opening bonuses with very high effective APYs:

This post combines highlights from a premium Knowledge Planet post by 大的要来了, along with real-world experience from existing HSBC users.

Account Opening Experience

I recently opened an HSBC account myself, and together with friends’ application experiences, here is an overview of the process.

  • Which accounts to open: HSBC now lets you open Premier Checking together with a Relationship Savings account. That way, once your funds arrive, you can move them straight into savings and earn 3.6% APY instead of leaving cash idle.
  • Application review: After applying through this HSBC link, your application will usually go into review. Within 1-2 business days, you may receive an email from HSBC asking you to call the fraud department; this is typically just for address verification. You only need to upload a bank or credit card statement showing your address. If they ask you to call regarding account opening instead, that usually means they have questions about details in your application, such as source of funds or purpose of the account. They also specifically emphasize that this personal account should not be used for business purposes. So make sure your application is accurate—they may ask in quite a bit of detail. If everything looks fine, approval usually comes 1-2 business days later.
  • In very rare cases, some people are told by phone that the account was approved, but receive a rejection email. If that happens, there is no need to waste time calling again—just submit a new application.
  • Setting up the account: Once approved, you will receive a series of emails from HSBC. They include account activation information, so you do not need to wait for documents or your card to arrive in the mail—you can set up online banking right away. After logging in, you should see both the checking and savings accounts already linked together.
  • About the Relationship APY: HSBC’s wording says that once Premier Checking is linked for the first time, the Relationship Savings account automatically receives the Relationship APY for the current month and the following three months. So for a newly opened account like ours, that effectively means 3+1 months of the higher rate right away. Once your bonus-qualifying funds hit checking, you can simply move them into savings to earn the higher interest. In my case, I received an email that same month confirming that the Relationship APY was applied immediately.
  • If you complete the bonus requirements, you will receive an email letting you know that you will get the bonus.
  • I ultimately received the deposit bonus at the end of the fifth month, so be prepared to keep the money there for 5 months. Fortunately, the savings account itself already pays a relatively high interest rate, so it is still a pretty good deal.

About HSBC

HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organizations. Its full name is The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. Its business network spans Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, North America, and Latin America, with about 3,900 branches in 67 countries and territories worldwide. HSBC deposits are protected by FDIC insurance, so there is no need to worry too much about bank failure.

HSBC offers bank accounts and credit cards in many countries, and these accounts are connected in ways that can help each other. In a sense, once you establish a relationship in one country, it can help you open accounts globally. So in this article, I will also introduce HSBC accounts in different countries and regions, along with related credit cards. Here are some of the main advantages of HSBC:

  1. Transfers between HSBC accounts worldwide post instantly and have 0 fees
  2. Supports multi-currency conversion with real-time exchange rates that are easy to understand
  3. 0 fees for sending and receiving wire transfers
  4. You may be able to open credit cards in other countries by establishing a deposit relationship
  5. Supports outbound RTP pushes and incoming RTP transfers (an instant U.S. interbank transfer system that you can think of as an upgraded version of old-school ACH)
  6. You can activate the Relationship APY; the deposit rate is currently 3.6%

Accounts and Bonuses (U.S.)

HSBC checking accounts in the U.S. often come with especially strong bonuses, so if you are in the U.S., this is a good place to start. Even if you do not have enough funds for the full account opening bonus, it may still be worth opening.

One important thing to note: this account opening bonus is now effectively once per lifetime. There is a line in the terms saying that if you currently have, or previously had, a U.S. HSBC account, you are not eligible for the bonus.

Customers who have a current or past HSBC account in the U.S. on file are not eligible for this offer

How to Open the Account

HSBC US has already sold off all customers below the Premier tier, so if you open an account with HSBC US now, you will be starting with Premier. The online application requirements are very simple: you only need to be 18 years old, have an SSN, a US phone number, and a US residential address (ideally one you have lived at for over a year). If you do not meet these requirements, you can consider opening the account at a local branch or by phone, but we recommend first applying through a link that includes an account opening bonus, and then verifying your identity through other channels afterward.

If you apply for a checking account directly on the official website and the system auto-denies you, that denial will remain on file in the backend. If you get denied, you can consider:

  1. Calling 888.662.4722 to request help opening the account
  2. Going to a branch and dealing with a banker in person

You must have an SSN to apply. Make sure your credit files at all three bureaus are not frozen; if they are, unfreeze them first (HSBC should be a soft pull, so it should not affect your credit score). It also helps to make sure the address on file with all three credit bureaus exactly matches the address you use on your HSBC application, which can improve the odds of instant approval. For example, check whether floor is abbreviated as fl, or whether drive is abbreviated as Dr. During the application, you may be asked public-record questions; if the choices look strange, just pick none of the above. After you apply, the application may go pending, and then you may receive an email a couple of days later saying you were approved.

A few other things to note:

  1. HSBC moves fairly slowly, so be patient. A friend of mine took about half a month total from opening the account to uploading documents to final approval.
  2. During the application, you may be asked whether you also want to open a savings account. It is not very useful and generally not necessary. After your checking account is approved, it is better to open a Relationship Savings account instead (more on that below).

In addition, if you already have an HSBC account in another country, you can use the same ID documents to open a US account through HSBC International Services. After you submit the application, it will be assigned to the RM in your current country for handling. So you can also choose to contact your RM directly and ask for help opening the account.

Relationship APY

The Relationship Savings account mentioned above has a pitiful base APY of only 0.05%, but you can activate the Relationship APY bonus rate (currently 3.6%) by meeting any one of the following conditions:

  1. Spend $500 per month on your debit card
  2. Make at least $500 in payments to an HSBC credit card from Premier Checking. You can transfer directly from your checking account to the credit card in the transfer interface, and your available credit will recover instantly.
  3. Set up $5,000 in direct deposits each month into Premier Checking

Official page:

direct deposit

As mentioned above, doing $5,000 in direct deposits each month into Premier Checking can both waive the monthly fee and activate the Relationship APY. You can achieve this by transferring money to yourself:

  1. HSBC is very lenient in how it determines direct deposits. Nearly all ACH Push transfers (note: not wire and not RTP) can count as fake direct deposits. For more DPs, see here.
  2. If you are still unsure, just test it yourself. Starting from the month you open the account, you will not be charged the monthly fee for 4 months (1+3) even if you do not meet the requirement, so you can experiment without much risk.
  3. The ACH Push must be pushed into Premier Checking. Sending it to other accounts will not count.
  4. The calculation is based on calendar months, so do not wait until the end of the month to do your fake direct deposit.

Based on reports from readers, the direct deposit required for the HSBC account opening bonus can be triggered by transfers (ACH) from Chase or Wells Fargo, which is much easier than using an actual payroll direct deposit. If you have accounts with either of those banks, you can consider using that method to “simulate” it. One thing to watch out for: try not to ACH money in and then pull out the exact same amount a few days later. A better approach is to ACH money in, then use the HSBC account to pay a credit card bill. If you truly need the cash, you can transfer part of it back later. Also, before making the transfer, you usually need to add your HSBC account in Chase, and Chase may send two small DDs to verify the account.

There are several ways to check whether your direct deposit worked (do not directly ask customer service whether your direct deposit succeeded; a human rep can tell):

  1. Check whether your monthly statement shows a monthly fee charge. However, because there is no monthly fee during the first 4 months even if you fail, this method will not help during that period.
  2. Wait for an HSBC email saying the Relationship APY was successfully activated (this is not triggered consistently).
  3. Open a Relationship Savings account and use whether the Relationship APY activates as your indicator. If the direct deposit in month X succeeds, it will activate the Relationship APY for month X+1. As mentioned earlier, direct deposit qualification is based on the calendar month, but direct deposit confirmation is based on the statement. In other words, a direct deposit that posts in month X can activate the Relationship APY for month X+1, but the system will only confirm the activation after that direct deposit has appeared on the checking account statement. So the fastest way to check the result is to wait until the direct deposit appears on the checking account statement, then ask chat support whether your Relationship Savings account successfully activated the Relationship APY. Ask about the APY, not about direct deposit. If the statement has not come out yet, they will not be able to tell.

Monthly fee

HSBC Premier has a $50 monthly fee, but it can be waived through certain balances or account activity. To waive the monthly fee, you need to meet one of the following conditions:

  1. Maintain a combined total of $100,000 across all accounts, including investment accounts. However, trading commissions are high, so you may prefer to transfer stocks in from another brokerage via ACATS and just let them sit there.
  2. Do $5,000 in direct deposits each month into Premier Checking
  3. Have a loan
  4. private bank status

If you do not want to park stocks there or do direct deposit, you can consider parking $100,000 there and then activating Relationship Savings. A 3.6% rate is actually pretty decent.

Zelle

HSBC now supports receiving money with Zelle and sending money to others with Zelle, which makes things much more convenient. However, when I tried it, I could not find a Zelle link on the web version; it seems you can only set it up and send transfers from the app.

The official site also lists Zelle transfer limits. Compared with other banks, they are still relatively low: $500 per 24 hours, and at most $3,000 within 30 days.

User experience

Be careful not to move money in and out too quickly. Everyday use

  1. The Bank to Bank transfers section on the website is for standard ACH transfers, and you can link up to 5 external accounts. The Transfers button, on the other hand, is used for transfers within the HSBC group, wires, and RTP. If an account you linked under Bank to Bank transfers is able to receive RTP, that account will also appear under Transfers, with the transfer method shown as Real Time Payment (RTP)
  2. HSBC customer service in any country, whether by phone or online chat, may ask whether you are currently in that country. If you do not mind and want to avoid hassle, you can simply answer YES. Customer service will not verify your actual location
  3. Under Global View on the website, you can sign in and link your HSBC accounts in other countries, so that logging into one account lets you see the balances of all linked accounts. But note that even if you do not link them in Global View, HSBC can still internally see all of your HSBC accounts in other countries

HSBC Global Accounts

Globally, as long as the account in your primary relationship country qualifies for Premier, all linked HSBC accounts in other countries can also be upgraded to Premier unconditionally with the monthly fee waived:

  1. You can open HSBC accounts in other countries by contacting your RM. Each country’s HSBC system only records whether that local account is your primary relationship account; it does not care which country currently holds that status overall. So if you want to change your primary relationship country, you only need to contact the RM in the original primary country and the RM in the new primary country. There is no need to deal with the other countries.
  2. HSBC policies differ by country. For example, in CN you must make an online appointment and then visit a Branch in person to open an account
  3. If you already have an Everyday Global Account (available in SG, AU, MY, etc.; the HK version is called HSBC One), do not open a Global Money Account. GMA is basically a stripped-down version of EGA. Both are multi-currency accounts, but GMA cannot receive inbound transfers directly from outside HSBC; funds must first come from a linked HSBC account in the same country. So if the currency you need does not have a corresponding account at HSBC in that country, you would have to use HSBC for the FX conversion. EGA is a full-featured multi-currency account, without the same inbound and outbound currency restrictions that GMA has
  4. If you must exchange currency at HSBC, prioritize UK and HK. HK has EGA and the exchange rate is decent, possibly even better than Wise. UK has better exchange rates, but only the stripped-down GMA
  5. Do not open HSBC Expat. It is very sensitive, and there are many DPs of it shutting down global relationships

HSBC Credit Cards

HSBC issues credit cards in many countries. Even if you are not physically in that country or region, you may still be able to get these cards by first opening a local hsbc checking account and then applying for the credit card.

U.S. HSBC Elite

The highlight of HSBC Elite is 5X on travel. Although starting in July 2025 rideshare, parking, and rent no longer count as travel, earning 5X points on common airline and hotel OTA purchases is still very rare.

The benefits are also quite solid.

HSBC China

HSBC China is fairly unusual: over your lifetime, you can only open one card lineup. Strictly speaking, once you close it, you cannot open it again, and product changes are also not allowed. (One exception is that you may be able to manually upgrade from a lower-tier card to a higher-tier card by increasing your deposit balance.) In addition, you can only have one supplementary-card lineup. So the recommendation is to apply directly for the best card, so you do not regret it later. HSBC China credit cards are among the easiest ways in mainland China to get a UnionPay Diamond card, excluding no-annual-fee “watered-down” versions. To activate the benefits and annual fee waiver, you need to keep 500,000 CNY on deposit with HSBC China. Coincidentally, the balance requirement to waive the monthly fee for HSBC CN Premier is also 500,000 CNY.

HSBC Hong Kong Cards

The well-known Pulse UnionPay card is especially suitable for spending in mainland China.

You can place a 3-month time deposit to improve your approval odds. Promotional offers are available for new-funds time deposits, but note that the new-funds amount for HKD updates in real time, while non-HKD balances do not update until the next day. So if you transfer in non-HKD funds, wait until the next day before placing the time deposit.

One odd thing about HSBC Hong Kong accounts is that if the balance of a foreign-currency subaccount is 0, that currency account may be automatically hidden. The only way to fix this is to first transfer in a small amount of HKD, then convert it within HSBC to activate the foreign-currency account, after which you can transfer in foreign currency.

HSBC Singapore

After major cuts in 2025, HSBC SG no longer has many attractive cards. If you are a card collector, you can still consider HSBC Revolution, which has a 0 annual fee.

Summary

If you need global transfers, opening an HSBC account is still a pretty good option. You can use your primary account to unlock fee-free Premier status globally, and you may also be able to open local credit cards, making this one of the easiest ways to establish a foothold locally. According to information from reader YSU, HSBC’s systems have improved significantly, with unique advantages in transfers and credit-history migration, and its credit cards are also solid. So if you have that need, it is worth considering.

HSBC Checking in the U.S. tends to offer especially strong bonuses, so if you are in the United States, that can be a good place to start.