Notices

We wish to inform you that the following special relief measures offered on HSBC Credit Cards in accordance to Circular No/s 4, 5 and 6 of 2020 of Central Bank of Sri Lanka -“Relief Measures to Assist CoVID 19 Affected Businesses and Individuals” will end on 30 September 2020.

• Interest rate of 15% on transactions up Rs 50,000 - Discontinued
  
  Any outstanding balance under the reduced rate program will be charged at the general Credit Card interest rate of 18% (p.a) w.e.f 1 Oct 2020.
• Late Payment Fee waiver – Discontinued
  
  If minimum due value is not settled by the due date, a late payment fee will be charged w.e.f 1 Oct 2020.
• Tariff Revision
  
  Credit Card late payment fees will be revised from Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500 w.e.f 15 Oct 2020.

Dear Valued Client,

We care about the wellbeing of our customers and our employees. Due to the prevailing situation in the country, we will be implementing the following branch and Call Centre services in limited capacity in order to serve you during this time.

Branch Operations

• HSBC  Wattala  and Negambo branches will be open on Mondays and Thursdays with restricted banking hours 9.00a.m – 12 noon. due to quarantine curfew being imposed in the Gampaha District.
• HSBC  Moratuwa branch will be open on Tuesdays and Fridays with restricted banking hours 9.00a.m – 12 noon. due to quarantine curfew being imposed in the Moratuwa area.
• Rest of the branches will operate from 9:00am to 3:00pm from Monday to Friday.
  
• Pelawatta and Bambalapitiya branches will not be open for Saturday banking until further notice.
  

In the event you need to deposit money in to an HSBC account or credit card, you can do so by transferring funds via CEFTS ( Common Electronic Fund Transfer Service ), an instant interbank transfer service - for more details click here to learn how CEFTS can help you and which banks have enabled this service.

Call Centre Service

Operating hours of our Contact Centre have been revised. All contact lines are open from 7:00am to 9:00pm, except for assistance for lost or stolen cards which will operate 24x7.

We encourage you to use our alternate channels such as Online Banking, Mobile App or Automated Phone Banking.

Do stay safe and we are here to help you.

Dear Customer,

Thank you for using HSBC for your banking needs. We would like to reiterate the importance of adhering to the guidelines set out by the financial regulators on the following;

Use of funds for virtual currencies and capital transactions- Prohibited

We wish to remind you the regulatory restrictions on purchase, sale and use virtual currencies, crypto currencies, bitcoins or conduct forex trading and capital transactions using Electronic Fund Transfer Cards (EFTCs). Further debit or credit cards should not be used for overseas money transfers. This guidance is issued in line with Paragraph 2 of the Direction No.02 of 2017 on EFTCs issued by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL). 

Use of personal accounts to collect donations - Prohibited

In addition, collection of donations for charity purposes shall be routed via the respective Non-Governmental Organizations, Not-for-Profit Organizations and Charity Accounts respectively. As per Financial Institutions (Customer Due Diligence) Rules, No. 1 of 2016 of Financial Intelligence Unit of Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and the bank’s internal policies a Personal Banking Account should only be used for the purpose for which the account is opened.

Use of personal accounts for business purposes - Prohibited

Further, personal banking accounts shall not be used to conduct any business transactions and such transactions should be routed via the respective business accounts only. As per Financial Institutions (Customer Due Diligence) Rules, No. 1 of 2016 of Financial Intelligence Unit of Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and the bank’s internal policies a Personal Banking Account should only be used for the purpose for which the account is opened.

Accordingly, we would appreciate your corporation in carrying out credit and debit card transactions within the stipulated guidelines.

We thank you for your valued relationship with HSBC and we assure you of our best services at all times.

Dear Valued Client,

We wish to inform you that foreign currency deposit interest rates (both savings and term deposits) have been revised downwards due to the interest rate revisions adopted by global central banks in their efforts to revive the respective economies due to COVID-19 pandemic. The revised rates can be accessed using the link https://www.hsbc.lk/tariffs/.

Further we wish to inform that Advance and Premier proposition preferential interest spreads of 0.25% and 0.5% will be discontinued for FCY term deposits going forward as a result of the global policy rate cuts.

Thank You.

Dear Valued Client,

We wish to bring to your kind attention that due to a planned system maintenance HSBC Secure Pay service (Verified by Visa/ Master Card Secure Code service) will undergo a system change on the password reset function and new enrolments via HSBC Online Banking.

With effect from 10^th June 2020, for any Secure Pay password concerns please contact your customer service hotline,

Dedicated hotline for HSBC Premier
+94 11 44 72 272.

Dedicated hotline for HSBC Advance
+94 11 44 72 243.

Dedicated hotline for HSBC Rewards Credit Card
+94 11 44 72 275.

Dedicated hotline for HSBC Platinum
+94 11 44 72 242.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause and look forward in implementing a new secure option in near future.

Dear Valued Client,

We wish to bring to your kind attention that we have discontinued offering Credit card Balance Conversion facility (FLEXI) with effect from 15 March 2020.

As such, kindly note that the bank will not be accepting any conversion requests for processing at present.

We regret any inconvenience to you and look forward in implementing new product offerings to our valued customers in near future.

HSBC Premier Centre at 41 Maitland Crescent Colombo 7 will cease operations on 29 May 2020. All Premier accounts maintained at the branch will be transferred to our flagship Premier Centre at No: 31 Sir Ernest De Silva Mawatha (Flower Road), Colombo 07 and managed by the same Relationship Manager. Please contact your Relationship Manager for more information.

Considering the prevailing situation, HSBC has taken steps to extend the validity of your HSBC Rewards Points expired in the month of March w.e.f 28 April 2020. The extended Points balance will be valid for another two(2) years from renewal date and expire as per customer’s natural expiry cycle.

With Holding Tax (WHT): In-line with the With Holding Tax (WHT) circular published by Inland Revenue Department (IRD) on 19 Feb 2020, any resident person in Sri Lanka is exempted from WHT and Non Resident Persons will be subject to 5% WHT. However, for Non Resident Citizens, if aggregate interest from a bank exceeds LKR 3 million per annum excess amount over 3 million will be subjected to WHT at the rate of 5%.

The circular also exempts WHT on any Foreign currency accounts held by “any person”. The circular provides DTA benefits for Nonresident non-citizens of Sri Lanka and the same can be availed by submitting a “Tax Residency Certificate” issued by the revenue authority of the relevant country. If the tax residency certificate is not submitted WHT will be charged at the rate of 5% on total interest income earned by the customer. Please note that this circular is applicable from 01 January 2020 and WHT liability will be assessed post month end and any excess charged will be refunded prior to the 15th of the following month, and any tax dues will also be recovered as applicable.

Further, based on the Fiscal Budget 2019, Interest Bearing Foreign Currency accounts and Children’s Savings accounts were proposed to be exempted with effect from 01 April 2019. In anticipation of the enactment of this law, Bank did not charge WHT on all relevant products. However based on the latest tax revisions announced, it has been advised to charge WHT from Foreign Currency and Children’s Savings accounts for the period 01 April 2019 to 31 December 2019 and as such bank will start collecting WHT on both Foreign currency accounts and Children’s savings accounts for the stipulated period. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and assure you of our best service at all time.

Changes to Rewards Points to air miles conversion ratio: HSBC Credit Card Rewards programme air miles conversion ratio will be changed to 5:1 for HSBC VISA Signature & Advance Platinum Credit Cards. i.e: 5 points will be equal to 1 air mile . HSBC Premier Credit Card Rewards programme air miles conversion ratio will be changed from 1:1 to 2:1. i.e: 2 points will be equal to 1 air mile. These changes will be effective from 1 March 2020. Air miles conversion under the Gold & Platinum Credit Card Rewards Programme will be discontinued from 29 February 2020.

Convert your HSBC Platinum Credit Card to Cashback and discontinuation of HSBC Rewards program for HSBC Platinum Credit cards: We are pleased to inform that HSBC Cashback benefits will be applicable for all HSBC Platinum Credit Cards with effect from 1st March 2020 upon registration with us. If you wish to register for HSBC Platinum Cashback, please send us an SMS typing <YES CB> to 4774.
With enhanced focus on Cashback, the HSBC Rewards program will be discontinued for HSBC Platinum Credit Cards with effect from 29th February 2020.
For more information, please refer the link (FAQ's).

At HSBC, we strive to provide the best in class service to all our customers. As a valued customer, we invite you to participate in our Customer Experience Survey and let us know your thoughts on your experience in banking with us.

To better understand your needs, we have engaged the services of an independent research agency, The Nielsen Company Lanka (Pvt) Ltd., to conduct a short telephone interview among customers who will be randomly selected by the agency.

Your feedback is invaluable to us and we would greatly appreciate your participation in the research.

If you don’t want to be contacted for the above survey, please get in touch with us:

• Click here to opt out of the survey
  
• SMS Type <CES> and SMS to 4774
• E-MAIL anushapinnapola@hsbc.com.lk
• POST Customer Insights Manager, Marketing Department, P. O. Box 73, Colombo
• Visit your nearest branch

Should you have any concerns on the quality of service or wish to give feedback, please feel free to contact us via Contact Us

Selected customers will be contacted via telephone from January 2020 to January 2021, 9:00am and 6:00pm from Monday to Saturday. The interview will last for about 10 minutes.

During the survey, the agency will ask for your opinion on the service you receive at HSBC. The call may be recorded for training and quality assurance purposes.

You can be assured that we have not shared your personal financial information such as account details, account balances etc. with the research agency. You are also not required to share such information during the course of the interview.