Customer Account Fee

The cost of providing our services has increased in recent years and in order to cover part of these costs, a customer account fee of €5 per month will be introduced.

The Customer Account Fee will start to be debited from May 2021.

An additional month of notice is being provided to customers aged 61 years and over. Therefore, if you are 61 years old or older as at the 30 April, and in scope of the fee, this will start to be debited from June 2021.

An updated notice has been sent out to all customers dated the 22 February. This is the effective notification, which includes the relevant information about the new Customer Account Fee.

Any notification (sent both through mail and email) previously received should be ignored.

The Customer Account Fee check is completed on a monthly basis, and reviews your account activity over the previous 3 months to determine if the fee will be charged or not.

In the first notification (dated the 11 January and which is no longer effective), we had reviewed your account activity for the months of October, November and December 2020, to give you an indication of whether you will be in scope to pay the fee. In our second notification (dated the 22 February and which is the effective notice) we reviewed your account activity for the months of November & December 2020 and January 2021. Therefore, in the latter 3 months you were no longer meeting one of the exemptions mentioned above and therefore you are now in scope of the fee.

We will charge you a monthly customer account fee if you do not qualify for any one of the exemptions mentioned above.

We will charge you a quarterly minimum balance fee if the average of the combined balances of your savings and current accounts in Malta does not exceed €200 during the previous quarter.

It is important to note that you will not be charged the minimum balance fee if you have already been charged the customer account fee in that month.

If you transfer money between accounts you hold with HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c. in your name (both joint and sole name), then these will not be taken into account.
If you transfer money, from accounts you hold with other banks/financial institutions to accounts in your name (both joint and sole name) with HSBC Bank p.l.c, then these will be taken into account.

The first fee will be debited from the current or savings account with the highest balance and subsequently will continue to debit the same account (the ‘selected account’).
This will only change if there are no funds in the selected account or the selected account has been closed, at which point the fee will be debited from any other current or savings account holding the highest balance at the time, (checking first accounts in sole name and then accounts in joint names if no other accounts in sole name are held) making this the new selected account.

For you not to be charged the Customer Account Fee, you will need to meet any one of the exemptions listed above.

Once you start meeting any one of the exemptions you will not need to take any other action as this will be taken into consideration immediately.

If you are currently only in part-time employment and your salary is credited to your HSBC Malta account, you can visit us at one of our branches with the relevant documentation (e.g. your latest FS3, payslip, contract of employment, etc). Following this we will then apply an exemption on your accounts which will stop you incurring the fee as long as your income continues to be credited to your HSBC Malta account.

If you decide to stop paying the HSBC Advance proposition fee, you will start incurring the Customer Account Fee unless you meet any one of the other exemption criteria mentioned above. 

Once you have fully repaid your Personal / Home Loan, you will start incurring the Customer Account Fee unless you meet any one of the other exemption criteria mentioned above. 

If you already hold a Student Account with HSBC Bank Malta, you will automatically qualify for an exemption. This also applies to Premier Headstart and Next Generation customers up to the age of 25 and holding a Student Account with HSBC Bank Malta.

If you currently do not have a Student Account with HSBC Bank Malta, you will start incurring the fee unless you meet any one of the exemption criteria mentioned above.

Once your Wealth product, distributed by HSBC Bank Malta, matures, you will start incurring the Customer Account Fee unless you meet any one of the other exemption criteria mentioned above.

If you solely hold a Term Deposit/s with HSBC Bank Malta, you will not incur the fee.

If you receive your pension in the form of a cheque you must change your pension payment option to a direct credit. This will mean your pension will be paid directly (by electronic payment) to your HSBC Malta account, and you will not incur this fee or be required to meet any other exemption criteria. In this way you will also be able to make use of your debit card immediately without the need to queue at the branch to deposit your cheque. You can speak to us, both at the branch or by calling 2380 8218, to help you with the change from cheque to direct credit.

1. If part of your Social Security pension pays for your Home for the elderly expenses and the remainder is credited directly (by electronic payment) to your HSBC Malta account, you will not incur this fee, irrespective of the amount received.
2. If part of your Social Security pension pays for your Home for the elderly expenses and the remainder is paid to you in the form of a cheque you must change your Social Security pension payment option to a direct credit to qualify for an exemption. This will mean that this will be paid directly (by electronic payment) to your HSBC Malta account. You can speak to us, both at the branch or by calling 2380 8218, to help you with the change from cheque to direct credit.

Since your Social Security pension is credited directly to your HSBC Malta account, you will not incur this fee, even if this is not the Age Pension (e.g. Two Thirds Pension, or Widows Pension, or other pension) -  as long as this is directly credited (by electronic payment) to your HSBC Malta account, you will automatically be exempt. Pensioners who receive any form of pension from the Social Security which is directly credited to their HSBC Malta account will automatically be exempt from the fee.

You can contact us on our dedicated Customer Account Fee line, which is 2380 8218 and is available Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 16:00. You can also send us an email on infomalta@hsbc.com. Alternatively, you can also visit us at one of our branches.

If you receive your Disability allowance in the form of a cheque, you must change your disability allowance payment option to a direct credit. This will mean your allowance will be paid directly to your HSBC Malta account, and you will not be required to meet any other exemption criteria. In this way you will also be able to make use of your debit card immediately without the need to queue at the branch to deposit your cheque. You can speak to us, both at the branch or by calling 2380 8218, to help you with the change from cheque to direct credit.

If you do not receive a local Social Security Disability allowance because you are in part-time employment, you will be required to meet one of the exemptions mentioned above not to incur the fee.

Alternatively, if you are registered with the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability, you can contact their helpdesk (helpdesk@crpd.org.mt) to ask them for the relevant documentation. Once you receive this, you can either forward this on to us at infomalta@hsbc.com or hand it to us at one of our branches. We will then apply an exemption on your accounts which will stop you incurring the fee.

If you are registered with the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability, you can contact their helpdesk (helpdesk@crpd.org.mt) to ask them for the relevant documentation. Once you receive this, you can either forward this on to us at infomalta@hsbc.com or hand it to us at one of our branches. We will then apply an exemption on your accounts which will stop you incurring the fee.