first direct
 

Credit Card Terms


1 Definitions

These are the definitions used in this Agreement:

  • ‘Account’: the account opened by us in your name under this Agreement.
  • ‘Additional Cardholder’: any other person to whom we issue a Card at your request for use on the Account.
  • ‘Balance Transfer’: a transfer to the Account of an amount you owe to another lender (who is not a member of the HSBC Group) or such other transactions as we tell you are to be treated as a ‘Balance Transfer’.
  • ‘Card’: any Visa credit card issued to you at any time or to an Additional Cardholder under this Agreement, and references include Card Security Details where the context requires.
  • ‘Card Security Details’: the Card number, the PINs, your password, any internet password and internet identity number.
  • ‘Cardholder’: you, the person entering into this Agreement with us.
  • ‘Cash Advance’: any cash withdrawal, Internal Transfer, purchase of travellers cheques or foreign currency, gambling transaction or money order.
  • ‘Internal Transfer’: any transfer of funds from the Account to any other account with us or any member of the HSBC Group.
  • ‘PINs’: any personal identification number provided for use with the Card.
  • 'Promotional Rate': any rate which is less than the applicable Standard Variable Rate, excluding any rate shown as an Introductory Rate in your Agreement.
  • ‘Purchase’: any transaction under which payment for goods and/or services is made by use of the Card or the Card number.
  • ‘Special Balance Transfer’: any Balance Transfer completed after account opening and charged at a Promotional rate. But excluding Balance Transfers which benefit from our Introductory Rate.
  • ‘Standard Balance’: the amount you owe us apart from Special Balance Transfer balances.
  • ‘We’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ refer to first direct (a division of HSBC Bank plc) including its successors and assigns, ‘you’ means the Cardholder and ‘HSBC Group’ means HSBC Holdings plc, its subsidiaries, associated and affiliated companies.

2 Using the Account

  1. Cards may be used, subject to these Terms until their expiry dates.
  2. You must not use your Card or the Account for any illegal purpose or allow anyone else to do so. If you do, you will be responsible for such use and may be required to reimburse us and/or Visa, for all amounts which we or they incur as a result of such use.
  3. You may ask us to issue a Card to an Additional Cardholder. You are responsible for all use of the Card by the Additional Cardholder, including any use in breach of this Agreement. You must ensure the Additional Cardholder complies with the terms of this Agreement. We will cancel any use of a Card by an Additional Cardholder on request if the Card is returned to us.
  4. We may allow third parties to make payments to the Account on your behalf.
  5. You must not exceed your credit limit at any time. In determining your credit limit, we will take account of all factors which we reasonably believe to be relevant.
  6. You must not use your Card or the Account for business purposes.
  7. Unless we expressly agree otherwise, all Promotional Rates are conditional upon you complying with certain terms of this Agreement. We may withdraw any Promotional Rate and apply the applicable Standard Variable Rate if you do not make your payments on time or if you go over your credit limit and in either case you do not rectify the situation within 7 days of our asking you to do so.
  8. We may restrict the amount of any balance you may wish to transfer or stipulate other conditions for the Balance Transfer. We will tell you when we do this.

3 Charges

  1. We will charge the Account with,
    1. all amounts incurred by the use of the Card and all interest, fees, charges and costs referred to in this Agreement.
    2. Our costs of enforcing our rights under this Agreement, including tracing costs, collection agency costs and legal costs incurred.
  2. Except for gambling transactions, we will charge a fee for Cash Advances and the following Balance Transfers:
    1. Any Balance Transfer of less than £500;
    2. Any Balance Transfer completed more than 2 months after account opening;
    3. Any Balance Transfer completed within 2 months of account opening which is your second or subsequent Balance Transfer of an amount owed to the lender concerned.

    The amount of the fee is set out in the Key Information section of this Agreement. Special Balance Transfers will not incur this charge.

  3. Any foreign currency transaction is converted to Sterling on the day that we receive details of the transaction. Exchange rates are the wholesale market rates. We charge commission on foreign currency transactions at the rate specified in the Key Information section of this Agreement.
  4. We will charge interest on Default Charges and our costs described in Clause 3 a) ii) at the same rate and on the same basis as Purchases. We will charge interest on the charges referred to in clauses 3b) and 3c) and balance protector premiums at the same rate(s) and on the same basis which apply to the relevant transaction or charge to which they relate (for example, a Balance Transfer or Cash Advance).
  5. The Total Charge for Credit is based on the assumption that you spend your credit limit (or, in some cases, an assumed credit limit of £1,500) in full on Purchases at the start of the Agreement and then repay it by 12 equal monthly instalments with interest being charged during that period at the simple annual rate for Purchases, taking no account of any introductory rates. When we send you a new Card, the Total Charge for Credit figure shown will reflect your current credit limit and current simple annual interest rate for Purchases.

4 Authorisations

  1. The use of the Card may be restricted or refused:
    1. if such use is causing, or would cause a breach of this Agreement;
    2. if we have reasonable grounds for suspecting that a Cardholder, Additional Cardholder or third party has committed or is about to commit a crime or other abuse in connection with use of the Card or the Account; or
    3. as part of our procedures to prevent fraud or misuse of Cards. You may be asked for further information including verification of your identity when we are asked to authorise a transaction.
    4. If you do not use your PIN when you use your chip and PIN card.
  2. Our authorisations process takes account of transactions which have been authorised but not yet applied to the Account.
  3. You cannot ‘stop’ a Purchase or other transaction made by use of the Card. We will credit the Account with a refund only if the supplier refunds us and we will charge interest.

5 Repayments

  1. We will send you a statement each month if there are transactions on the Account and you must tell us immediately if your statement is incorrect.
  2. You must repay immediately any amount that exceeds your credit limit, any arrears and the amount of any transaction in breach of this Agreement.
  3. All payments made will only take effect when received by us as cleared funds.
  4. We may tell you at our discretion if you may miss making a monthly repayment but if you do so, any interest free period will not be extended and interest may be charged.
  5. You should not make payments that place the Account in credit. If you do, we may still restrict the use of the Card and the Account to the amount of your credit limit.

6 Protecting the Card

  1. You and any Additional Cardholder must take all reasonable precautions to prevent the Card and Card Security Details from being used fraudulently. These include:
    1. signing the Card as soon as it is received and complying with any security instructions;
    2. taking care of the Card and Card Security Details;
    3. not allowing anyone else to have or use the Card;
    4. destroying any notification of the Card Security Details;
    5. not writing down the Card Security Details or disclosing them to anyone else (other than any Additional Cardholder permitted to use them) including the police and/or our staff;
    6. if you change your Card Security Details to make them more memorable to you, not choosing sequences of letters or numbers that may be easy to guess;
    7. not tampering with the Card;
    8. keeping Card receipts securely and disposing of them carefully; and
    9. contacting us about any issue arising from the use of the Card at a terminal and we may disclose to the organisation that provides the terminal any information we consider necessary to resolve any such issue.
  2. If the Card is lost, stolen or liable to be misused for any reason, you must tell first direct immediately on 08 456 100 100 (textphone 08 456 100 147) or +44 113 2345678 from abroad. We may ask you to confirm it in writing to us at 40 Wakefield Road, Leeds, LS98 1FD.
  3. Cards belong to us and must be cut in half and returned immediately if we ask you to do so in any of the circumstances set out in clause 4a) or where there is any other valid reason.
  4. You must co-operate with us and the police to recover lost or stolen Cards, and to investigate any unauthorised transactions. If you are asked to report unauthorised transactions to the police, you must do so immediately and in any event within 7 days of being asked. If you recover the Card you must not use it and should cut it in half and return it to us.

7 Misuse of the Card

  1. If a third party uses the Card or Card Security Details having obtained them with your or the Additional Cardholder’s consent, you will be liable for any use that takes place before you notify us under Clause 6b) even if you have not authorised it. However, you will not be liable for any losses that arise from any misuse of the Card or Card Security Details where they are used to buy goods or services remotely, such as over the Internet, by phone or mail order, subject to certain limited exceptions
  2. If a third party uses the Card or Card Security Details with your, or the Additional Cardholder’s consent, you will be liable for such use without limit.

8 Variations

  1. We may, at our discretion, change any of the terms of this Agreement, including interest rates (and the APR) (either generally or on specific promotions only), the repayment date or amount, the statement date, Default Charges, fees or other charges or introduce new terms. Where any change is to your benefit, we will give you at least 7 days’ written notice of the change. Otherwise, we will give at least 30 days’ written notice unless clause 9a) applies. Written notice includes:-
    1. postal notification which can be by statement message;
    2. if you have registered for our Internet Banking Service and you have agreed, delivery by secure e-message to the 'messages' area within internet banking; and
    3. if you have provided us with an email address, delivery to that email address.
    We recommend that you print or save a copy of any notification we deliver to you for your records.
  2. If we change the terms of this Agreement, we may change your Card, Account number and PINs and cancel the Card that your new Card replaces. The balance on the Account will become subject to new terms. If we do this we will give you 30 days’ written notice.
  3. If you are unhappy with any change made by us under this Clause 8, you may end this Agreement by giving us notice under Clause 9c) before the change takes effect.

9 Ending this Agreement

  1. We may cancel or suspend the use of the Card for all or any purposes or refuse to replace or reissue the Card if:
    1. there is a breach of this Agreement, or any other agreement between you and any member of the HSBC Group;
    2. we have reasonable grounds for suspecting that you or an Additional Cardholder or third party has committed or is about to commit a crime or other abuse in connection with the use of the Card or the Account;
    3. We have reasonable grounds for suspecting there may be a credit risk in respect of the Account;
    4. you die;
    5. you are bankrupt or have similar proceedings taken against you;
    6. your bank account with us or any member of the HSBC Group is frozen as a result of court proceedings or other legal process;
    7. the Card or the Account has not been used for at least 12 months; or
    8. any information you gave us when you applied for the Card is found to be untrue or where we have reasonable grounds for suspecting this.
  2. We may end this Agreement in any of the circumstances set out in Clause 9a) or in any other exceptional circumstances and/or demand repayment of the balance on the Account, in each case subject to service of any notice required by law.
  3. This Agreement will also end when either of us gives notice in writing to the other and, where you end this Agreement, when you return all Cards. We will give you 30 days’ notice if we end this Agreement under this clause 9c).
  4. If this Agreement ends:
    1. you must ensure there is no further use of the Card, and cancel any payment authorities and standing orders;
    2. you will be liable for transactions made before or after this Agreement ends (apart from any referred to us for authorisation after it ended);
    3. the terms of this Agreement will continue to apply until we have been paid in full; and
    4. we may require immediate repayment of the balance on the Account.
  5. On your death, the obligations under this Agreement will continue until all Cards have been cut in half and returned to us and the balance on the Account has been paid. Any Additional Cardholder must immediately stop using the Card and must return it to us cut in half.

10 General

  1. We may at any time transfer our rights and/or obligations under this Agreement to someone else. If we do this, it will not affect your rights and/or obligations. You may not transfer any of your rights and/or obligations.
  2. Any security given by you to us does not apply to this Agreement.
  3. We may, at our discretion, relax any of the terms of this Agreement but we shall still be entitled to strictly enforce them again at any time.
  4. If you have a dispute with a third party over a transaction made with your Card, you must keep making payments to us while you are resolving it.
  5. We may use any credit balance on any other account you hold with us to reduce or repay any sums you fail to pay under this Agreement. We will give you a reasonable opportunity to pay the outstanding sums before we do so. We will tell you as soon as possible after we do so.
  6. We will not be liable to you for any loss due to:
    1. any failure or delay in providing our service caused by strikes, industrial action, failure of power supplies or computer equipment or other causes beyond our reasonable control;
    2. any third party or cash machine not accepting or retaining your Card, or the way in which any such non-acceptance is conveyed to you.
  7. This Agreement is governed by English law and we and you agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
  8. We are required by law to tell you that the terms of this Agreement are in English and that we will communicate with you at all times in English.
  9. You must notify us immediately if you change any of your name, address, telephone number or your e-mail address.
  10. Any Additional Cardholder has no right under the Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this Agreement.

padlock11 Your Information

Confidentiality

  1. The information we hold about you will not be disclosed to anyone (including other members of the HSBC Group), other than where:
    • we are legally required to disclose, or
    • we have a public duty to disclose, or
    • our interests require disclosure, or
    • the disclosure is made with your consent, or
    • set out in the terms below.

Credit Reference Agencies

  1. We may share information with credit reference agencies (CRAs) to verify your identity and suitability for an account. This will include the use of information from the Electoral Register and other public sources.
  2. If you have applied for a current account or credit, we may use the record of your credit history held by the CRAs to assess your ability to meet your financial commitments. Where you have agreed, we may also share details of how you manage any current accounts or borrowing from us with CRAs.
  3. The CRAs will record details of your application which will form part of your credit history whether or not you proceed and if you make several applications for credit within a short period of time, this may temporarily affect your ability to obtain credit.
  4. If we make demand for repayment following any default by you and you fail to repay the sum due in full or make (and adhere to) acceptable proposals for repayment within 28 days, then, provided there is no genuine dispute about the amount owed, we may register the default with the CRAs. The registration of a default notice may affect your ability to obtain further credit.
  5. Information held about you by CRAs may already be linked to records relating to one of your “financial associates”. If so, any application for credit will be assessed with reference to the records of any “associates”.

Crime Prevention and Debt Recovery

  1. To prevent crime, to verify your identity and to recover debt, we may exchange information (both within the UK and, where appropriate, overseas) with other members of the HSBC Group, and, where appropriate, with fraud prevention and debt recovery agencies and other organisations including other lenders.

If you have provided false or inaccurate information and we suspect fraud, we will record this.

Information held by fraud prevention agencies may be used by lenders and insurers when making decisions about you or others at your address(es) for credit-related services or motor, household, credit, life or any other insurance facilities and for debt tracing, claims assessment and to prevent fraud and money laundering.

Data Processing

  1. The HSBC Group may record, exchange, analyse and use relevant information about you and your relationships with the HSBC Group (including the nature of your transactions) for credit assessment, market research, insurance and administrative purposes. This may include information provided by you, or someone acting on your behalf.
  2. Relevant information may also be exchanged with members of the HSBC Group and others, for audit purposes and if required by appropriate governmental and non-governmental regulators or ombudsmen.
  3. We aim to keep your information up-to-date, please advise us of any changes.
  4. We may use other HSBC Group companies and/or third parties (including Visa) to process information and provide services on our behalf. Whether it is processed in the UK or overseas, your information will be protected, in accordance with data protection legislation, by a strict code of secrecy and security which all members of the HSBC Group, their staff and any third parties are subject to and will only be used in accordance with our instructions.
  5. We may provide information about you and the conduct of your account to any Additional Cardholder and to any person to whom we transfer our rights and obligations under this Agreement.

Information about Products and Services

  1. With your permission, the HSBC Group may exchange, analyse, and use relevant information about you and your relationships with the HSBC Group, (including the nature of your transactions) to give you information (including promotions) about products and services (including mortgages), available from HSBC Group companies and those of selected third parties which may interest you by telephone, post, e-mail, secure e-messaging, text messaging services and other means.

If you do not want us to contact you about such products and services, please let us know.

Miscellaneous

  1. Under data protection legislation, you can apply in writing for a copy of certain personal records we hold about you. The current fee is £10.00 per request from each individual.
  2. Telephone 08 456 100 100 if you require details of the credit reference and fraud prevention agencies we use.
  3. To ensure that we carry out your instructions accurately, to help us to continually improve our service and in the interests of security, we may monitor and/or record your telephone calls with us. Any recordings remain our sole property.
  4. We will obtain your written consent before providing a bankers reference about you. However, if we receive a request from another financial services institution to verify your identity for money laundering prevention purposes, we will provide this information.
  5. We may use any contact details you provide to us for service related reasons. You should only give us your email address, home, work or mobile telephone number, if you are happy for us to contact you in these ways. If you want us to stop contacting you in a particular way, you should let us know.

Additional Information for credit card Products and Services

  1. For products (such as insurance) that are not provided by the HSBC Group, we will exchange information about you and your account in relation to that product with the chosen product provider(s). This will include changes to your name, address, card number and other relevant information (including Additional Cardholder/additional policyholder details). With the HSBC Group’s approval, product provider(s) and their associated companies and agents will also process information about you, including sensitive data such as health records, in the manner described above, to the extent necessary for providing you with the product described (such as when making decisions about your eligibility for cover, assessing claims, undertaking crime prevention measures and passing information to regulators and/or ombudsmen). In this context, ‘we’ and related words and phrases include the product provider. If you require details of any fraud prevention agencies used by our product provider(s) please call 08 456 100 100.

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

If we do not deliver the standard of service you expect, or if you think we have made a mistake, please let us know. We will then investigate the situation and, if necessary, set about putting matters right as quickly as possible. In addition, we will take steps, where appropriate, to prevent a recurrence. Please allow the department concerned the first opportunity to answer your concerns and put matters right. However, if you remain dissatisfied and would like further information about our process for resolving complaints, please ask for our explanatory leaflet ‘Listening to your comments’.

HSBC BANK PLC

first direct is a division of HSBC Bank plc. HSBC Bank plc is established at 8 Canada Square, London, E14 5HQ, which is its registered office. HSBC Bank plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority and is registered in the Financial Services Authority Register with registration number 114216. HSBC Bank plc is licensed by the Office of Fair Trading to carry on a consumer credit business, Licence Number 6343.

RIGHT TO CANCEL UNDER THE FINANCIAL SERVICES (DISTANCE MARKETING) REGULATIONS 2004

You have a right to cancel this Agreement under the Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations 2004. You can do this by writing to us at 40 Wakefield Road, Leeds, LS98 1FD. You must tell us if you wish to cancel no later than 14 days from the day you receive the Card. If you cancel this Agreement after you have used the Card or the Account, you must repay any capital balance outstanding on the Account as soon as possible but in any event no later than 30 days from the date of cancellation. If you do not exercise your right to cancel, this Agreement will continue until it is terminated in accordance with Clause 9.

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first direct is a division of HSBC Bank plc. © HSBC Bank plc 2008. All Rights Reserved. Member HSBC Group.
Because we want to make sure we're doing a good job, we may monitor or record our calls. We hope you don't mind.