Consumer complaint received 2023-06-20
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports — Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report — Personal information incorrect
Company: HSBC NORTH AMERICA HOLDINGS INC.

Complaint:
I have been trying to open a checking account with HSBC for a number of weeks now. Each time I do so, the account opening is declined. They state it is due to wrong information from the Credit Bureaus and that I need to resolve with them. 

I have attempted to open the account with HSBC 5 times, the last application ID is XXXX. 

Complaint 1 : HSBC originally told me that I had to contact XXXX, XXXX and XXXX, and they didn't use XXXX, even after me querying this. After the 5th application, I was told I also had to reach out to XXXX. Inconsistent information given by the customer service agents about which Credit Bureaus they use and which ones to speak to. 

Complaint 2 : HSBC 's terms and conditions allow them to enter and exit a relationship with their customer at any time. I asked the latest customer service agent on XX/XX/19 to point me to this online and he couldn't. He just read it to me. I believe he used this as the reason to not provide any more information on the exact nature of what was wrong and gave me an address to write to. I do not believe it is acceptable that a bank does not give an immediate way to understand the personal data that they are collecting about me, either through my application or through 3rd parties. 

Complaint 3 : I have been attempting to resolve any discrepancy with my personal information with the Credit Bureaus. I have been having significant problems with XXXX, particularly with different information given by different agents. 

Examples with XXXX : -I was told that I had to resolve the following notice on my credit report : " The issue date of the Social Security number that you gave us when you contacted us is not verified by the Social Security Administration . '' I went to my local SSA office and they told me that the date was fine. When I phoned XXXX again, they said that message is on every person 's report if they received a SSN after a given date. Hence, I wasted 3 hours in the SSA office based on wrong information. 
-I raised a dispute on XX/XX/XXXX to remove an address that was wrong, which was resolved successfully. However, on XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX again and I was told that the same address I removed was still visible on their report. I called the dispute team on XX/XX/XXXX to be told that it wasn't there and the representative must have made a mistake, which is difficult to believe considering it was the exact same address I had removed previously. Additionally, on the same call, I was querying why the XXXX credit report that I had generated via the " 3 Credit Bureau Report '' product on XXXX showed my date of birth from XXXX wrongly. I also wanted to query why the XXXX credit report that I had generated from XXXX had the wrong address. The XXXX agent went on to lecture me with some very poor analogy that they don't have any control over what 3rd parties present for my data, even though they claim it comes from XXXX. He said that he could prove what data they hold by sending me a copy of my credit report. While I acknowledged that what appears to be on my credit report may be correct, it was technically possible that the data pulled electronically via 3rd parties may be from a data source. I told the agent that the 3rd parties stated that they didn't own the data, that XXXX does, and they have no way to change it and all disputes had to be raised with XXXX. The agent proceeds to lecture me with the analogy, the time he has given up for me - 25mins vs 6mins that a customer should receive - and that there was nothing for him to do. I think this approach shocking. No one is able to take ownership of the data quality issues, and I shouldn't be lectured about the time of a call, especially when I am stuck trying to resolve an issue that hasn't been addressed. He also alluded that XXXX could be a scam.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation