With HSBC US, you can only open an account as a non-resident if you have premier status in another region. They have also heavily reduced their presence in the US in recent years and now only do premier accounts.
Hopefully credit cards someday!
Yeah, during the shake-up a few years back, HSBC US was officially repositioned as an ‘International Wealth Centre’. That basically means they only need to keep a handful of ‘International Wealth Management Centre branches’ open in the States to look after high-net-worth clients from both home and abroad. Actually, there are loads of banks in the US that focus just on wealthy folks like that, like CIBC US.
From what I gather, HSBC US does actually let international non-tax residents apply for credit cards (you just have to ring their hotline). But if you haven’t got an SSN and a US address, your details won’t show up on their local credit files (a bit like how you need a footprint with Experian or Equifax in the UK).
One big thing to watch out for, though – going by the experiences of some Chinese – is that applying for a card is pretty risky. It can actually trigger HSBC US to shut down all your accounts globally (including your HSBC UK ones). A major reason for this is that if you don’t have enough cash over there to pay off the credit card, you have to transfer it in from abroad. Making regular international transfers like that is really likely to get flagged by HSBC risk systems as ‘money laundering’ or highly suspicious, even if the cash is coming from an HSBC UK account and same name.
The only way it might be safe is if the money you send over to the US comes from your HSBC UK account, and that money originally went in as your regular salary. Basically, it means they can trace the funds completely from start to finish within HSBC own internal systems.
They do let you open a credit card as a non-resident without SSN. It does still create some sort of credit profile in the US though. In any case though their credit card offering in the US aren’t very great. They recently introduced a $95 annual fee for their basic credit card which used to be free and their premium credit card costs $495 a year and once again the benefits aren’t that great.
Also a big advantage of HSBC’s global footprint is the ability to make fee free transfers accross different countries.
HSBC Australia closing over the next 18 months.
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Did this debit card ever turn up? I’m thinking of applying for Santander ES and seeing what they say.
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What happened to “no more accounts”
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That ended when I opened Metro 
See even the community AI agrees with me
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@AlanDoe please can you turn Big Brother off. There was literally nothing rude in my message whatsoever.
It never arrived. Oh well!
If you don’t need a card, it’s a useful account. It you need a card, MeDirect is better.
Sarcasm appreciated 
Maybe you’ve not been flagged yet, but by the 3rd time when you’ve said nothing wrong whatsoever it starts to get a tad annoying.
Santander definitely seem firm on the digital only card, and I’ve got Wise / MeDirect for EUR spending so I won’t get this account.
Ok that’s ridiculous.
The original message was
“That ended when I got [another name for a train] Bank ”
Definitely digital only unless you have a TIN and Spanish address. There is a workaround if you’re not a registered Spanish taxpayer but you still need a local address, and as they are withheld it still needs to be collected in person from your designated branch for the first card issue.
Not to mention the fact that the card is identical to the Santander UK one apart from the word ‘Débito’.
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Get that Mediterranean banking feeling with none of the hassle by applying a white Letraset ‘o’ to a UK debit card
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We’re showing our age there.
Plus a Tippex accent on the é.
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Chuff Chuff?
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