Canadian High Interest Savings Bank Accounts

Hi All:

I have searched everywhere but cannot find the answer that I am looking for and needed your help.

My question is, does HSBC Direct charge you a fee when you make bank to bank transfer withdrawal from your HSBC Direct account to the linked checking account from another bank in Canada (i.e. TD)? I sent their customer service a note and also called them. They said that they charge $10CAD for transferring money from the HSBC Direct Account to any account that is not an HSBC Account. So, the only way to withdraw/access my money is thru the ABM machines? I cannot believe this if this is true. I used to have an HSBC direct savings account as well when I lived in the US but they don’t charge for transferring (more specifically withdrawing) from the direct savings account to any other US banks. Why do they have a ridiculous rule in Canada?! And it is not even written in the fine print anywhere in their site or the FAQs!

Can someone with experience on this let me know if they do charge you a fee if you withdraw money from your direct HSBC Direct savings to another Canadian bank (the one that is linked when you first opened the account)?

I need to know so I can make a decision on whether I will keep this account or maybe only put in money that I am certain that I will not use for a long period of time…. Thanks!

HSBC has a service charge brochure here:
http://www2.hsbc.ca/pdfs/pib/e…..ure_en.pdf

No, bank to bank transfers from the Direct account are free. You need to first link the account by sending in a form and void cheque or bank statement.

A "wire" transfer is something different that costs $10. It can be used to send money to a 3rd party, with no account linking needed, but is not something you would typically use to move money between your accounts with different banks.

Thanks for clarifying, everyone!