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For HSBC customers abroad, ATM access just got less convenient

May 20, 2013

A change to chip-embedded ATM cards is supposed to make ATM access easier in EMV markets. But for HSBC customers, this isn't quite the case.

When the FI changed to chip cards it also put out a tender for networks, selecting the "best deal," an industry insider told the South China Morning Post. It also went with a single-network set-up, as mandated by the government, "for security reasons," a bank spokesman said.

As a result, customers who previously had ATM access through both the Plus and Link networks now have access through only one network. 

And the network offering the "best deal" was China UnionPay — which provides a far smaller network of affiliated ATMs (Visa-owned Plus alone claims 1 million ATMs worldwide).  

What's more, just finding a UnionPay-friendly ATM isn't enough. Cardholders must find a terminal on the UnionPay network that is also EMV capable, further shrinking the pool of available cash machines.

Some Hong Kong residents travelling abroad have experienced serious difficulties obtaining cash, the article said. 

"Since the issuing of new cards, I have been in London, Istanbul, Tokyo, Morocco, Vancouver, Vienna and Paris ... I had no [luck] getting cash in any of them. It always said card error, card invalid, or simply spit the card back out with no explanation," said one HSBC cardholder.

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