When did we get to the point where it is more important to satisfy the shareholders than it is the customers? Where driving through ‘efficiencies’ increases share prices but at the cost of the service to the customer? And when did business forget that the customer is their source of income?
My father-in-law died a few months ago, and when that happens and the financial institutions are notified of a death, all financial accounts etc. are frozen. Which is understandable to an extent. What then happens is the probate process which, as far as I can tell, is based really on how much inheritance tax has to be paid. It isn’t really about the fairness or otherwise of the will, but how much over the £325k threshold the government can rake in 40% of what exceeds that amount.
My father-in-law’s banks were notified by someone other than the executors of the will without the executors being aware it was going to happen. The banks allowed that person to notify them and, on that basis, froze all the accounts with no notice including the business bank accounts. Then they have insisted that the executors need to jump through endless hoops to deal with the frozen accounts. Amazing that they don’t worry about that when they decide to freeze them.
We have tried since this happened to deal with the bank that holds the main business account – HSBC – and I have been shocked, appalled, amazed and stunned at just how utterly terrible they are at customer service.
Now, we have here a situation where someone has died. Which means family members are grieving the loss of someone they love. The bank sends an email full of platitudes, asking for the necessary paperwork to be uploaded to show who the executor(s) of the will are and warning that there is a 20 day delay in processing said paperwork. Yes, 20 days. It does not matter whether this is a personal account or a business one, the same notification process, and delay, applies. After 14 days, my husband went into a branch (amazingly, he found one) and came away with the promise that a series of emails would be sent to him immediately to unfreeze the business bank account. The emails never arrived.
In short, everything he has done with HSBC has been a complete and utter waste of time. Because they have actioned none of it even after the requisite 20 days. Nothing. Nada.
In desperation, given it’s getting to the end of the month and salaries (not to mention suppliers) need to be paid, my husband phoned HSBC and finally got through to someone. One hour and forty minutes later, having explained three times about his father’s death, relaying the same details to three different departments, spelled out the email address countless times, he has been told (again) that he needs to provide paperwork before they can unfreeze the account. And before they can begin to close down the personal accounts. To say his stress levels are rising, along with dealing with Father’s Day last weekend and what would have been my father-in-law’s birthday this coming weekend, would be an understatement. He is a man on the edge to say the least.
It seems like every time you take a step forward with this situation, you take at least two back. Yes, I know that means you’re going backward because that is exactly what it feels like. Like there is no progress being made, and it’s immensely frustrating as well as worrying for his livelihood.
Out of interest, I looked up the Group Chairman of HSBC – Brendan Nelson. He earns £1.5m per annum for this role. I then looked up the Group CEO – Georges Elhedery who was paid £6.62m in 2025 because he pushed through a transformation programme that made the shareholders wealthier. And it occurred to me – the shareholders are the only concern here. Not the customer who actually pays for the wages that the shareholders agree to. They have forgotten who their focus actually needs to be on. Because, no customers, no business. Oh, I’m sure the Tier 1 companies who bank with HSBC get their own business partner etc. etc., but there aren’t actually that many of those. No, the economies of many countries are actually driven not by the Tier 1’s, or even the Tier 2’s but by SME’s. There are many, many more SME’s than there are Tier 1’s or Tier 2’s for the business banking side. Collectively, the SME’s have more money with HSBC in all likelihood than the Tier 1’s and Tier 2’s which means the overnight deposits, foreign exchange deals and all the other ways in which banks make money, is financed by the monies that SME’s generate in the banks. And then there are the personal bank accounts. The savings accounts. The ISA accounts and other investment accounts that the ordinary person has with the ‘High Street banks’. Except they’re not on the high streets anymore and, where they are they are just basically sales rooms for their products.
Add all of that together and, suddenly, the bank accounts of the Tier 1’s and Tier 2’s look small. Yet the Tier 1’s and 2’s are getting the service while all the rest – or the majority – are getting the shoddiest service of all.
The Brendan Nelsons and Georges Elhederys of this world are far more concerned, along with their Board colleagues, with driving up the profits of the shareholders than they are of driving up the profits of those who bank with them. They are more concerned with providing a service of greed to shareholders than they are in providing a customer service to their actual customers. When did we get to this point? And why do we tolerate it?
Oh, we moan and complain about it but what do we actually do? I remember trying to sort out some international transactions for my husband’s company when his father was still alive and being told that HSBC is the worst bank for customer service. Yet, people remain with them. I guess they think it’s too much effort to change bank account. But while we have that approach, they get away with what they are doing. Quick disclaimer here – while I know my own bank, Barclays, aren’t much different I will say they have stuck by me during my own financial meltdown and for that I will remain loyal to them. Loyalty matters to me seeing as barely anyone showed me any, so I am loyal to those few who have been.
Isn’t it time, though, we started holding these institutions to account? Isn’t it time we remembered that we are the ones holding power because we are, collectively, what generates their profits. If we start walking away en masse and going to the likes of Revolut and Starling, the so-called High Street banks will have to change their tune or go bust.
In so many ways we seem to have forgotten that we are the powerful ones if we act as a collective. We are more numerous, collectively we have more wealth, and we are the customers of the majority of those who seek to make our lives more difficult whether that be politician or billionaire or big institution.
Why else are we being so divided amongst ourselves? Why else does it suit Facebook, Instagram and other social media sites to write the algorithm so that we become more angry with each other? Which politicians capitalise on? Why else do the likes of Elon Musk interfere? Jeff Bezos via his media outlets?
When are we going to wake up and do something about it?
Please?
Louisa Simpson 