Like most students on campus, I was once a customer of HSBC, the bank which leases space in the Rensselaer Union. Also like many students, I long ago fled from HSBC for better alternatives with better service, better rates, fewer or no fees, and no hassles. For those of us who repeatedly have had assorted problems with HSBC, it should not come as a surprise that even RPI moved all of its own business away from HSBC several years ago.

Even though I was no longer their customer, I had been a frequent user of HSBC ATMs in the Union, and occasionally sought out their help in exchanging cash for other denominations, or changing rolled coins into bills.

However, one day a few years ago, the ATM told me something like “Network unavailable, please try again later.” After several days of this, I finally inquired, only to learn that they no longer supported

the network that my ATM card was on. And just like that, the ATMs in the Union were instantly useless to me (and probably many other people).

More recently, after many years of occasionally exchanging rolled coins for cash, suddenly a new HSBC wall went up. “You do have an account here, right?” No. Game over. This, despite having been on campus for nearly 20 years, being well known, and even identifying the rolls clearly with my name and mailing address. No exceptions. The manager advised me the “that was that,” HSBC has a contract with the Student Union, and I should take it up with them. So here we are.

Of course, some might say they have no obligation to help me because I am not a customer. And sure, I agree in principle. But with HSBC occupying the space in the Union, it is afforded a certain monopoly, and even a de facto endorsement by the Union. It gets lots of “captive” business from this arrangement. It should be willing to make some special concessions to our community for this position, and if I understand correctly, it already does, in cashing student pay checks, even though those students may not have an account at HSBC.

Several different vendors on campus who have been kind enough to help me out in changing money from time to time rolled their eyes in disgust at this latest story, and related similar stories where they’d been sent away, without the help they had needed in a pinch. This is simply unacceptable. How hard would it be to ask for an RPI ID and then show a little flexibility? Or, at worst, in the case of rolled

coins, have us write our ID number on the rolls and compare it to our ID. Since it is no longer the SSN, they wouldn’t even have to scratch it out later, and there would be a trail back to the person that turned them in.

I would urge the Union Executive Board to consider finding an alternative to HSBC in the future, and choose a bank that is willing to actually be helpful to our community, even to those who are not the bank’s customer. In fact, I am sure quite a lot of people on campus who are not HSBC customers contribute to their bottom line when they pay ATM fees, at their conveniently-located machines.

In the meantime, our campus and incoming students should be wary of HSBC and consider alternatives such as online banking. We also have a Bank of America in downtown Troy, and they now have a new ATM located on campus in the Darrin Communications Center, which also supports networks HSBC does not. I myself have been impressed with Bank of America and am considering opening an account there. I learned recently it has numerous special offerings for the RPI community, as RPI itself now banks there. These include fee-free accounts for students or direct depositors, special rates on other things, and even referral bonuses if your friends open accounts. And best of all, they were actually cheerful.

Jyri Palm

ALUM ’98