I'm trying to pay my (US) HSBC credit card from europe and the credit card company can't find a way to accept my funds. please help me find a way so I don't ruin my credit score...
June 6, 2011 9:18 AM Subscribe
I'm trying to pay my (US) HSBC credit card from europe and the credit card company can't find a way to accept my funds. please help me find a way so I don't ruin my credit score...
I moved to germany a while ago and kept my hsbc credit card and my wamu checking account open to keep working on my credit score. long story short: wamu turned into chase and my free checking account turned into a fee-based account and I shut it down after they cleared it out. that was a mistake because while I thought I could use paypal to pay off my cc from europe I in fact can't.
HSBC wants me to use western union to pay them but I can only pay in cash to be paid out to individuals and not corporations. my local bank is happy to wire the money to a foreign bank but the folks at the HSBC phone line are unable to find a SWIFT or BIC code, one of which I would need in order to complete a transaction of this kind. HSBC also doesn't accept paypal or google checkout and the last thing they came up with, that I should walk into a local HSBC branch, won't work since there aren't any HSBC branches in Hamburg, Germany or anywhere in Germany for that matter.
my very last option would be to wire the money to a friend in the states and have them pay off my credit card. but that's asking a lot from people (they would have to get said code, write a check and mail it off) and I loathe taking this step. I would rather deal with this somehow myself.
so, hivemind. any ideas? what could I do?
I moved to germany a while ago and kept my hsbc credit card and my wamu checking account open to keep working on my credit score. long story short: wamu turned into chase and my free checking account turned into a fee-based account and I shut it down after they cleared it out. that was a mistake because while I thought I could use paypal to pay off my cc from europe I in fact can't.
HSBC wants me to use western union to pay them but I can only pay in cash to be paid out to individuals and not corporations. my local bank is happy to wire the money to a foreign bank but the folks at the HSBC phone line are unable to find a SWIFT or BIC code, one of which I would need in order to complete a transaction of this kind. HSBC also doesn't accept paypal or google checkout and the last thing they came up with, that I should walk into a local HSBC branch, won't work since there aren't any HSBC branches in Hamburg, Germany or anywhere in Germany for that matter.
my very last option would be to wire the money to a friend in the states and have them pay off my credit card. but that's asking a lot from people (they would have to get said code, write a check and mail it off) and I loathe taking this step. I would rather deal with this somehow myself.
so, hivemind. any ideas? what could I do?
According to this, there are many HSBC branches in Germany, mostly in the larger cities.
posted by dougrayrankin at 10:01 AM on June 6, 2011
posted by dougrayrankin at 10:01 AM on June 6, 2011
Go to HSBC in Germany or another American bank and get a US dollar cashier's check.
posted by shoesietart at 10:04 AM on June 6, 2011
posted by shoesietart at 10:04 AM on June 6, 2011
Worst case scenario, I presume you have relatives back in the US whom you can send funds to via Western Union who can in turn use said funds to pay your card fees?
posted by dougrayrankin at 10:17 AM on June 6, 2011
posted by dougrayrankin at 10:17 AM on June 6, 2011
Medium term solution:
* reopen a free ING Bank account in the US
* Get two paypal accounts (US/DE)
* Move money via Paypal DE to Paypal US, then from Paypal US to your ING account. Link the ING account to your CC.
By the way, I know it was possible to transfer money from one CC to another CC. Maybe you can make a payment this way.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 10:23 AM on June 6, 2011
* reopen a free ING Bank account in the US
* Get two paypal accounts (US/DE)
* Move money via Paypal DE to Paypal US, then from Paypal US to your ING account. Link the ING account to your CC.
By the way, I know it was possible to transfer money from one CC to another CC. Maybe you can make a payment this way.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 10:23 AM on June 6, 2011
shoesietart: Go to HSBC in Germany or another American bank and get a US dollar cashier's check
This is the most direct A - B way to end the pain that is US banks not wanting to play international consumer banking and refusing to speak IBAN. It sucks, I'm sorry.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:47 AM on June 6, 2011
This is the most direct A - B way to end the pain that is US banks not wanting to play international consumer banking and refusing to speak IBAN. It sucks, I'm sorry.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:47 AM on June 6, 2011
Response by poster: okay, I'll try not to miss an option.
- german cheques will hardly be legible to a US bank, even if I were to manage to get my hands on one. the usual way here is wire transfer but alas, no IBAN from HSBC.
- the HSBC branches linked to in germany are not retail banking branches but investment offices. I called two. no chance at walking into one and conducting any type of business. damn.
- no relatives in the US. they're all germans living in germany.
- I doubt I could open a US bank account, even online, since I can't receive mail in the US. I should have kept the wamu/chase account open.
the idea of finding a US bank in hamburg, germany sounds like it's worth a try but I haven't had much luck thus far. I found an odd mapquest link to a supposed bank of america branch here but I know that place. there definitely is no regular bank branch there.
yikes. this is tough.
posted by krautland at 1:36 PM on June 6, 2011
- german cheques will hardly be legible to a US bank, even if I were to manage to get my hands on one. the usual way here is wire transfer but alas, no IBAN from HSBC.
- the HSBC branches linked to in germany are not retail banking branches but investment offices. I called two. no chance at walking into one and conducting any type of business. damn.
- no relatives in the US. they're all germans living in germany.
- I doubt I could open a US bank account, even online, since I can't receive mail in the US. I should have kept the wamu/chase account open.
the idea of finding a US bank in hamburg, germany sounds like it's worth a try but I haven't had much luck thus far. I found an odd mapquest link to a supposed bank of america branch here but I know that place. there definitely is no regular bank branch there.
yikes. this is tough.
posted by krautland at 1:36 PM on June 6, 2011
- german cheques will hardly be legible to a US bank, even if I were to manage to get my hands on one. the usual way here is wire transfer but alas, no IBAN from HSBC.
What about an international money order, though?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:48 PM on June 6, 2011
What about an international money order, though?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:48 PM on June 6, 2011
Frankly, I would not be terribly inconvenienced to do this for a friend, and I think that writing your friend a cheque, or sending them a cashier's cheque or money order, or sending them money via paypal, etc, and then having them just write the cheque for you is by far the most convenient option. You're talking about almost no effort and a fairly minimal amount of risk.
posted by jeather at 2:06 PM on June 6, 2011
posted by jeather at 2:06 PM on June 6, 2011
krautland: "- german cheques will hardly be legible to a US bank, even if I were to manage to get my hands on one. "
You can get a US$ check from your bank in exchange for euros.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:08 PM on June 6, 2011
You can get a US$ check from your bank in exchange for euros.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:08 PM on June 6, 2011
I think you should try again to contact HSBC(US) and find the SWIFT/BIC you need. I'm sort of in a similar situation and have transferred funds from a European account to a Bank of America account without much difficulty. It took me some digging on the BoA web site, but I eventually sorted out how to find the SWIFT/BIC. Try talking to somebody at a different level (local vs corporate) than you've been trying.
posted by knile at 11:46 PM on June 6, 2011
posted by knile at 11:46 PM on June 6, 2011
You can buy Amex checks in US Dollar nomination in Germany. Does your CC company accept this as payment? You could mail this.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 4:59 AM on June 7, 2011
posted by yoyo_nyc at 4:59 AM on June 7, 2011
Response by poster: I'm on the phone right now with my bank trying to figure out if they can get me money orders or cheques (no, the german post office doesn't do either) they could get as I'm reading about amex checks here. they didn't mention those in a list of ways they would accept payment but hey, that is interesting... I will investigate.
posted by krautland at 5:01 AM on June 7, 2011
posted by krautland at 5:01 AM on June 7, 2011
The CHIPS for HSBC US is 0108. HSBC definitely has a SWIFT code. (Don't just pick a random SWIFT from that page; who knows where your money will end up.) No one talking to you knows what it is. See if your German bank will allow you to transfer with CHIPS. If not, keep calling until you get someone who knows the number.
posted by quadrilaterals at 6:42 AM on June 7, 2011
posted by quadrilaterals at 6:42 AM on June 7, 2011
Response by poster: the credit cards are run out of HSBC Nevada. they are a completely different operation from all other operations. you'll find that out when you try to access your US HSBC checking account in a london branch. or get help in the US in a building with an HSBC logo. they claim to be the world's local bank but they sure as hell aren't.
post office, money order. that's what I'm going to try tomorrow. not sure it'll work. I will report back.
posted by krautland at 9:36 AM on June 7, 2011
post office, money order. that's what I'm going to try tomorrow. not sure it'll work. I will report back.
posted by krautland at 9:36 AM on June 7, 2011
There's a Citibank branch right on the Rathausplatz by the Rathaus U-Bahn station. (Rathausstr 2) - possibly they can help you set up an account with Citi in the US if you explain your situation (I wouldn't count on it, but if you're desperate...)
I was looking for the requirements for opening an ING account and I don't see anything about nationality/mailing address (though you can choose to have everything sent via email, so it won't be an issue) - though I seem to remember there being a social security number requirement. It's worth calling them - skype is your friend. 1-800-ING-DIRECT. Oh, and ING's German bank is ING-DiBa (069 / 50 500 105 and they have a Rueckruf service on their website).
Good luck
ninja edit: maybe try getting in touch with American military bases in Germany (though those are all in southern Germany, I think) and see if you can get access to their banking relationships. Oh, and there's an American consulate in Hamburg (the Little White House, Alsterufer). They don't do regular consular services anymore, but they might be able to help you. (040) 411 71 100
posted by yggdrasil at 10:04 AM on June 7, 2011
I was looking for the requirements for opening an ING account and I don't see anything about nationality/mailing address (though you can choose to have everything sent via email, so it won't be an issue) - though I seem to remember there being a social security number requirement. It's worth calling them - skype is your friend. 1-800-ING-DIRECT. Oh, and ING's German bank is ING-DiBa (069 / 50 500 105 and they have a Rueckruf service on their website).
Good luck
ninja edit: maybe try getting in touch with American military bases in Germany (though those are all in southern Germany, I think) and see if you can get access to their banking relationships. Oh, and there's an American consulate in Hamburg (the Little White House, Alsterufer). They don't do regular consular services anymore, but they might be able to help you. (040) 411 71 100
posted by yggdrasil at 10:04 AM on June 7, 2011
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posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:48 AM on June 6, 2011