I transferred £61,000 to a new HSBC Isa – and my money disappeared

Customers who opened an HSBC Isa this year have been unable to see or access the money they paid. This is money can reveal.

This is Money understands that the issue will impact customers who opened HSBC’s one-year fixed rate Isa after April 10.

An HSBC customer told This is Money that a £61,000 transfer he had approved when opening the Isa had been debited from his HSBC accounts and sent to a mysterious account he did not recognise.

Daniel Redmond* opened HSBC’s one-year Isa on April 15 and authorized HSBC to make a transfer of £20,000 from his HSBC current account and £41,000 from an existing Isa held with HSBC on the same day.

On April 17, just before 5 p.m., Daniel was notified that the money had left his accounts. However, the money did not appear in the new one-year Isa.

Daniel could see on his statements that it had instead been sent to an unnamed account with a sort code and account number he had never seen.

He called HSBC because he felt suspicious that this had happened at the end of the working day and thought the unknown account details could indicate a scam.

He said: ‘At first HSBC were quite dismissive, but when I told them the amount they paid more attention to it and said they would look into it.’

Daniel had to stay on the phone for twenty minutes while an HSBC agent investigated the bill.

He said: ‘Eventually HSBC told me the problem was due to an IT issue and that I would have to wait a few days. They said the IT issue would affect anyone who created a similar account.

‘They said my Isa had actually been opened and the sort code and account number were from my new Isa, but I got no notification that the Isa had been set up and there was no name attached to it, not even “HSBC” or “Is an “.’

HSBC said: ‘The accounts opened are visible internally and we can discuss the accounts with customers in the usual way. The customer’s fixed rate cash Isa accrues interest at the rate agreed at the time the customer purchased the product.’

When the saver opened the account, he was told that it could take up to five days for the account to be formally opened and that the transfer request would be part of that process.

He said: “The way I see it, it’s now been six days without any access or control over my money.

‘I have been banking with HSBC for over 15 years now and managed my accounts with the same provider in the hope that it would be easy and smooth to make transfers.

‘I no longer see the one-year fixed interest account on my mobile app or via internet banking. I only found out that the money I had authorized for the Isa transfer had been taken from my accounts when I looked at my statement and saw that it had been transferred to a random account that I didn’t know about.’

HSBC has not told him when he can see or access his Isa.

He said: ‘They gave me the impression that they were completely unaware of this matter and even thanked me for informing them about it.’

In the dark: One reader couldn’t see the £61,000 he transferred to HSBC’s one-year Isa, but it was transferred to a seemingly random account he feared was fraudulent

Other customers have reported on X, formerly Twitter, that they are also unable to see new HSBC accounts they have opened.

One customer said: ‘I opened a fixed rate Isa last week and had £5,000 taken from my account to fund it. No sign of the account in my online banking and chat/phone support from HSBC have been useless. You even tell me so much because you’re not allowed to see it.’

While another said: I opened a (HSBC) fixed rate account earlier this week but it’s not showing up on online banking or in your iOS app.’

HSBC said on

This is Money contacted HSBC to ask them to investigate the whereabouts of Redmond’s money.

An HSBC spokesperson said: ‘We are aware that some customers who have recently opened a Flat Rate Isa are currently unable to view their newly opened account online. We are working hard to resolve this and apologize for any inconvenience caused. All accounts are opened in accordance with customer requests and the customer earns interest at the rate agreed at the time of opening this Isa.

‘Customers will receive welcome packs and Isa statements by post confirming their account details. It may take a few days before these reach the customer.’

HSBC has now resolved the issue after This is Money intervened.

*Daniel Redmond is a pseudonym because the HSBC customer has asked not to be named