Savers switching ISAs to a major high street bank say they have been left waiting weeks for their money to arrive.
Some customers claim thousands of pounds temporarily disappeared during the transfer process.
Some HSBC customers say they have been left waiting weeks for their ISA savings to arrive after switching to the bank.
Customers transferring ISAs to HSBC have reported delays of six weeks or more following the bank's popular cash incentive promotion launched at the start of the 2026-27 tax year.
One saver said £20,000 of her money could not be seen in either her old account or her new HSBC ISA for around two weeks while the transfer was being processed.
The issues emerged after HSBC introduced a dual cashback-style offer giving customers the opportunity to receive up to £1,000 in bonuses.
To qualify, customers needed to open a Premier current account and transfer an ISA balance from another provider.
Suzanne, a 53-year-old from Lancashire who asked not to be fully identified, told This is Money that she began transferring £20,000 from Lloyds to HSBC through the bank's app on April 3.
She said she was attracted by HSBC's one-year fixed ISA paying 4.5 per cent interest, alongside a £150 bonus payment.
Savers report 'missing' £20,000 and six-week transfer delays
|GETTY
However, when the money failed to arrive within the usual 15 working day transfer period, she submitted a formal complaint on April 27.
Shortly afterwards, the money departed her Lloyds account but never appeared at HSBC, leaving her life savings in limbo.
The bank's automated response warned complaints could take six weeks to address. Her funds finally materialised on 11 May, five weeks after her initial application.
She said: "To not be kept informed of our life savings is disgraceful. I believe that by offering a leading cash ISA interest rate that HSBC have not been prepared for the response to their offering."
HSBC's cash incentive structure proved highly appealing to savers at the start of the ISA season
| HSBC UKShe is so disappointed in HSBC she is now "looking into her options" regarding moving the money out of the account, even though exiting the fixed deal early will come with a penalty.
The bank's cash incentive structure proved highly appealing to savers at the start of the ISA season.
Premier account holders, who must have either a £100,000 salary or equivalent in savings and investments, could claim a £500 bonus, doubled from the previous £250 offering.
Additional bonuses were available for transferring ISA balances from rival providers, with payments ranging from £150 for transfers between £20,000 and £49,999.99, up to £500 for those moving at least £100,000.
Combined with the competitive 4.5 per cent rate on the fixed-term ISA, the maximum potential reward reached £1,000.
The offer riggered a surge in applications that overwhelmed HSBC's transfer processing capacity
| GETTYThis generous offer, which concluded on 11 May, triggered a surge in applications that overwhelmed HSBC's transfer processing capacity.
HSBC acknowledged the difficulties in a statement, saying: "We're currently experiencing higher than usual Isa transfer volumes following strong demand for our savings products, which regrettably means some transfers are taking longer than expected to complete."
The bank assured customers they would continue earning interest throughout the process.
Another customer reported waiting six weeks and counting for a £52,000 transfer to complete.